Matthew D. Erlich, MD

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Overview
Credentials & Experience
Research

Overview

Matthew Erlich, M.D. is Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry in the College of Physicians and Surgeons and Director of the NYS Office of Mental Health Consult Service which manages adult and forensic consultations for New York State's state-operated behavioral health services that address psychopharmacological, behavioral, and recovery approaches. Since 2014, Dr. Erlich is also the co-developer of OMH's Cognitive Health Services, leading the implementation of Cognitive Remediation recovery-oriented programs within the NYS OMH statewide system.
Dr. Erlich's research interests primarily focus upon quality improvement projects, such as reduction of antipsychotic polypharmacy, improving clozapine utilization, suicide prevention & postvention, improving video-telepsychiatry consultation (VTC) services to underserved areas, and improving recovery-oriented programs in New York State's Regional Centers of Excellence. He is a member of NYS OMH's Suicide Prevention Steering Committee, workgroups to develop OMH Quality Improvement clinical decision-making tools, and OMH's Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee. Dr. Erlich was an OMH Policy Scholar (2010-2012) for his research and co-creation of a clinical decision tool to reduce antipsychotic polypharmacy, and he also won an NIMH Outstanding Research Award in Psychiatry in 2011 for this work.
Dr. Erlich received his medical, psychiatry, and public psychiatry training at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons and New York State Psychiatric Institute. He completed the Public Psychiatry Fellowship at Columbia University / New York State Psychiatric Institute with a focus upon the research and study of behavioral managed care organizations and NYS Medicaid Redesign during his residency. He continues to teach and research behavioral health service delivery systems in New York State and nationally. He has received numerous awards for his teaching and clinical-research work. Dr. Erlich is a Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, Member of the APA's Council on Advocacy and Government Relations; a member of the American Association of Community Psychiatrists where he is a member of the Executive Committee; and a Member of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry (Psychopathology Group). In addition to academic writing, Dr. Erlich has written numerous articles for the Huffington Post, the Atlantic, and has provided information regarding psychiatry-related topics to the news media.

Areas of Expertise / Conditions Treated

Adult Psychopharmacology
Adult Psychotherapy
Psychiatric Consultation and Evaluation
PsychotherapyIndividual/Fam

Academic Appointments

Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry

Administrative Titles

Director, New York State OMH Consult Service

Gender

Male

Credentials & Experience

Education & Training

Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Residency: NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center
Fellowship: NY State Psychiatric Institute

Research

Dr. Erlich is interested in psychiatric services for individuals with severe and persistent mental illness in the public sector. This includes the creation, implementation, and assessment of clinical-decision making tools and recovery-oriented programs that seek to improve the quality of life of mental health consumers. Current projects include expanding cognitive remediation into a recovery-oriented focus that is currently being implemented in New York State's OMH outpatient clinics; and updating suicide prevention protocols and interventions.

Research Interests

Adult Psychiatry
Cognitive Remediation and Cognitive Health
Mental Health Services Policy and Program Implementation / Evaluation
Public Psychiatry
Suicide Prevention and Postvention

Selected Publications

*Erlich MD, GAP Committee on Psychopathology. Envisioning Zero Suicide. Psychiatric Services; 2016; Vol. 67, No 3: 255. PMID: 26927915. (doi: 10.1176/appi.ps.201500334)
Carruthers J, Radigan M, *Erlich MD, Gu G, Wang R, Frimpong EY, Essock SM, Olfson M, Castillo EG, Miller GA, Sederer LI, Stroup TS. An Initiative to Improve Clozapine Prescribing in New York State. Psychiatric Services. 2016. PMID: 26725299. (doi:10.1176/appi.ps.201500493)
Holloway F, *Erlich M, Sederer LI. Chapter 27: Rehabilitation: an International Perspective, in Enabling Recovery: The principles and practice of rehabilitation psychiatry, 2nd Edition. Edited by Frank Holloway, Sridevi Kalidindi, Helen Killaspy, Glenn Roberts, London, The Royal College of Psychiatrists Press, 2015.
Medalia A, *Erlich M, Miller GA, Volo AM, Sederer LI. Factors Impacting Successful CR Implementation in New York Outpatient Mental Health Clinics. Schizophrenia Bulletin. 2015, 41 (Supplement 1,S323).
*Erlich MD, Smith TS, Horwath E, Cournos F. "Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders" in Psychiatry, 3rd Edition. Edited by Janis L. Cutler, New York, Oxford University Press, 2014.
Smith TS, *Erlich MD, Sederer LI. Integrated Care: Integrating General Medical and Behavioral Health Care: The New York State Perspective. Psychiatric Services; 2013; Vol. 64, No. 9: 828-831.
*Erlich MD, Sederer LI. Minding Our Zeros and Ones: Are Psychiatrists Ready for Neurotechnology? Psychiatric Times, 2012; Vol. 29, No. 11: 1.