A VISION SOFTLY CREEPING

Congressional Engagement:  These are interesting times for our nation's non-physician health care providers, and particularly for those in the mental health/behavioral health field.  In deliberating on the Fiscal Year 2015 Appropriations bill for the Department of Defense (DoD), the U.S. Senate noted: "Mental Health Professionals. – The Committee recognizes that service members and their families face unique stresses beyond those of everyday life.  After over a decade of war, the need for mental health professionals in the Department is at an all-time high, and the Committee believes that every beneficiary of the Military Health System should have timely access to mental health services.  However, the Committee is concerned with the Department's inability to recruit and retain enough psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, nurse practitioners, and registered nurses to provide adequate mental healthcare.  The Committee has asked the Government Accountability Office to review this issue including the Department's current inventory of mental health providers, current and future needs for providers, challenges the Department faces in recruitment and retention, actions taken to mitigate these challenges, and recommendations going forward to ensure an adequate inventory of mental health professionals within the Military Health System.  The Committee looks forward to receiving the results of this review and working with the Department to provide the tools necessary to implement any recommendations."  We would suggest that this is an excellent time for psychology to showcase its innovative treatment initiatives, communicate the ways in which the integration of behavioral and mental health services into primary care improves health outcomes, as well as its success in appropriately expanding its clinical scope of practice in obtaining prescriptive authority (RxP).

            The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA):  President Obama's landmark Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148) provides an exciting opportunity to make a real difference for those colleagues with vision and the willingness to demonstrate leadership.  Combined with the enacted Mental Health Parity legislation, this represents the largest expansion of health insurance coverage, particularly for behavioral health, in the history of our nation.  Mental health and substance-use treatments are deemed "essential health benefits" under the ACA.  Priority will be given to prevention, wellness care, and services which are high quality and cost-effective, as our nation moves our health care system towards population health-based care, rather than stressing individual acute care episodes.  The ACA calls for the development of integrated, interdisciplinary systems of patient-centered care which will be transformational.  Chief among these is the integration of behavioral health and medical health care, where the public sector has consistently demonstrated proactive leadership.

The foundation is steadily being put in place for bringing the advances occurring within the communications and health information technology (HIT) fields into the health care environment.  As a nation, we are moving from reimbursement for specific clinical procedures towards encouraging value-based care – including the critical psychosocial-economic-cultural gradient of quality care.  This fundamental shift in emphasis is expected to result in the U.S. no longer being ranked by the Commonwealth Fund as last among developed nations on overall measures of health system quality, efficiency, access to care, equity, and healthy lives, as compared with Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.  This is in spite of the fact that we presently spend more on health care than anywhere in the world.

            The Need for Greater Public Awareness:  At the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, we are fortunate to have a number of APA elected officials and senior staff address our interdisciplinary health policy seminar.  Rhea Farberman recently described APA's efforts to ensure that the value of psychological expertise is appreciated by health policy experts, other disciplines, and the public.  There is a surprisingly significant knowledge gap with only 4% of Americans being aware of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act and what it means for their access to mental health and addictions care.  Consumers report that psychology can help people lead healthier lifestyles (51% somewhat agree and 42% strongly agree).  And, that health care can be improved through better understanding of human behavior (49% somewhat agree and 26% strongly agree).  Consumers believe that psychological research has a role to play in finding ways to address health issues such as obesity and smoking (49% somewhat significant and 23% very significant).  Yet, the public often doesn't pursue psychological services for themselves or loved ones when it could make all the difference in their treatment outcome.  This action gap could be the result of stigma; it could be due to access issues.  Regardless, it presents both an opportunity and responsibility for psychology.  As highly educated professionals, we may understand how psychology can contribute to improving the overall quality of health care in our nation if appropriately recognized.  However, we have a significant way to go before the rest of society does.  And, this is particularly true with our physician colleagues!  When physicians were asked:  Does psychological research have a role in finding ways to address health issues such as obesity and smoking – 45% responded somewhat significant and 40% very significant.  Even more telling: How helpful do you think a psychologist would be when it comes to assisting your patients in making lifestyle and behavior change?  Fifty-eight percent indicated somewhat helpful and 24% very helpful.

            Prescriptive Authority (RxP):  In her recent mailing to the membership, APA's Katherine Nordal praised the Illinois Psychological Association for their success in obtaining RxP.  "It's good news for our profession and very good news for the residents of Illinois….  Right now in our country, nearly 80% of psychotropic medications are being prescribed by primary care physicians who have very little training in mental health.  I'm sure you agree that mental health patients are well served by having qualified mental health professionals available to prescribe.  That's why the victory in Illinois is so important."  The World Health Organization (WHO) defines an adverse drug reaction as "harmful, unintended reactions to medicines that occur at doses normally used for treatment" and points out that these are among the leading causes of death in many countries.

Reflecting upon their success in Illinois, Beth Rom-Rymer reminds us that: "The Illinois Medical Society and the Illinois Psychiatric Society vigorously and vociferously lobbied against our RxP bill until they realized that we wouldn't stop fighting and until they had already spent $1 million to keep us out of the prescribing community!"  Persistence and community involvement are the key to long term change, which Beth and her colleagues vividly demonstrated.  Why is it that more colleagues within the VA have not sought prescriptive authority?  The experiences of their DoD colleagues clearly demonstrate that they can obtain these clinical skills and that the quality of care they would provide would be excellent.  The need is there.  There are a significant number of psychologists who are veterans and who belong to veterans' organizations -- the true beneficiaries.  Under President G.W. Bush, VA Secretary Tony Principi was quite open to initiating a pilot project, similar to the way that the DoD program initially began.  At that time psychology's leadership was not willing to demonstrate proactive leadership; notwithstanding that a number of individual VA psychologists had informed me that they were, in fact, prescribing.  Have we matured sufficiently as a bona fide healthcare profession to affirmatively accept this clinical responsibility?  The Sounds of Silence.  Aloha,

Pat DeLeon, former APA President – Division 18 – September, 2014

 

I’M SO PROUD TO KNOW

It was extraordinarily satisfying to learn from Beth Rom-Rymer that the Illinois Psychological Association (IPA) was successful in enacting your prescriptive authority (RxP) legislation this past June.  It has been a decade since Louisiana achieved their startling success, during which time leaders in the RxP movement have been steadily working to develop a "critical mass" of postdoctoral trained psychopharmacology clinicians.  Bob McGrath, Director of the Fairleigh Dickinson University Clinical Psychopharmacology training program, estimates that today there are 1750 graduates.  As vigorous as your opposition has been, it was impressive from a public policy perspective to see that, in the end, the Illinois Psychiatric Society and the Illinois Medical Society conceded that psychologists can prescribe.  Clearly this was a concession that only came after a hard-fought battle.  It was the perseverance and the determination of your IPA leaders, looking after the interests of the most vulnerable and at-risk residents in Illinois, that ultimately won the day.  And, as you now move quickly to implement your RxP legislation, with the drafting of the rules and regulations of the law and the signing up of various training facilities and universities and colleges throughout the state to train Illinois's prescribing psychologists, undoubtedly you will find that achieving the collaborative partnership of psychiatrists and medical directors has been greatly facilitated by your eleventh hour negotiated bill.  Congratulations!

            Our collective RxP discussions frequently refer to the successes of New Mexico (2002), Louisiana (2004), and colleagues in the Department of Defense (DoD) and U.S. Public Health Service (particularly, the Indian Health Service [IHS]).  Few seem to appreciate that the first state to pass RxP legislation was actually Indiana (1993, thanks to Mike Murphy), which was followed by Guam (1998, thanks to Mamie Balajadia).  Neither of these states has implemented their statutes to date; although progress has been reported in Guam.  Interestingly, Floyd Jennings was prescribing in the IHS back in 1988-1989 under the authority of the Santa Fe Indian Hospital bylaws.  Former APA President Ron Fox: "As of December 31, 2013 when I was chair of the APA Insurance Trust, I can attest to the fact that prescribing psychologists do NOT have to pay higher premiums for professional liability insurance as the Trust deemed an increase unnecessary; and, because the Trust policy provides insurance to cover expenses related to licensing board complaints I know that there have been NO complaints or actions taken by state licensing boards regarding prescribing abuses by appropriately trained psychologists."

Having been an informed observer throughout psychology's RxP quest, I was particularly pleased that your legislation recognizes, for the first time, the importance of encouraging pre-doctoral training.  This is an educational policy position that had been urged by practice visionary Gene Shapiro from the beginning and most recently by APA Past President Bob Resnick.  The initial requirement for postdoctoral training was a reasonable political compromise, addressing the sincere concerns of those who feared that our next generation of colleagues might never appreciate what psychological expertise could contribute to our patients' quality of life.  Their view was that otherwise "we would take the easy way out and become junior psychiatrists; substituting medication for therapy."  Over the years, the evidence has clearly not supported that contention.  In fact, our prescribing colleagues frequently report significantly modifying previously ordered medication protocols.  "The power to prescribe is the power to unprescribe," as New Mexico's Mario Marquez has stated on numerous occasions.

            The 1992 report submitted to the APA Council of Representatives by the ad hoc Task Force on Psychopharmacology, chaired by Mick Smyer, clearly appreciated the long term significance of "the importance of developing a subspecialty of psychology with comprehensive knowledge and experience in psychopharmacology.  Practitioners with combined training in psychopharmacology and psychosocial treatments can reasonably be viewed as a new form of health care professional, expected to bring to health care delivery the best of both psychological and pharmacological knowledge.  The contributions of this new form of psychopharmacological intervention have the potential to improve dramatically patient care and make important new advances in treatment."  And, as you have successfully demonstrated, the Task Force then focused on "the potential impact of the proposed training on two important concerns of consumers: (1) meeting unmet need for mental health services, and (2) effectively serving special populations."  Anita Brown was one of the APA staff liaisons to the Task Force.  She subsequently became one of the DoD prescribing psychologists.

            During his 2009 APA Presidency, James Bray hosted a Presidential Summit on the "Future of Psychology Practice."  One of the major themes presented was that "mental health care cannot be divorced from primary medical care, and that all attempts to do so are doomed to failure."  The enumerated Summit Principles were * Expand the focus of traditional psychological practice.  * From mental health to health care providers: Integrated health care.  * Integrating technology into practice.  * Meeting the needs of our diverse society.  And, * Apply basic and applied scientific evidence in our practice.  Shortly after the signing of your historic legislation James noted: "To stay as a viable profession psychology needs to take advantage of new opportunities in health care and business, otherwise we are likely to continue to financially decline.  Reimbursement rates for traditional mental health services have decreased in the past 10 years, while health care insurance premiums have seen double digit increases – Why is this?  Psychologists are being replaced by Masters level trained clinicians who will work for less and provide many of the same services.  We need to evolve into new positions of clinical leadership, consulting with business and gaining prescriptive authority where our services of doctoral trained psychologists will be rewarded.  If we don't step up now, other professions will and we will continue to see our incomes and opportunities drop."

            President Obama's landmark Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) provides many opportunities for non-physicians with vision.  Combined with the recently enacted Mental Health Parity legislation this represents the largest expansion of health insurance coverage, particularly for behavioral health, in the history of our nation.  It provides a priority for prevention, wellness care, and services which are high quality and cost-effective, and aims to move our health care system towards a population health-based system.  The ACA affirmatively calls for the development of integrated, interdisciplinary systems of patient-centered care which will be transformational.  Chief among them is the integration of behavioral health and medical health care systems.  Under the law mental health and substance use treatment are deemed "essential health benefits."  The foundation now exists for the steady integration of the advances occurring within the communications and health information (HIT) technology fields into the health care environment.  From this perspective alone, your success in obtaining the support of the American Nurses' Association-Illinois chapter and the Illinois Society for Advanced Practice Nursing for your RxP legislation is extraordinarily futuristic.

Substantive change always take time; often far longer than one expects.  Throughout today's discussions regarding the appropriateness and cost-effectiveness of integrating behavioral health/mental health within primary care settings, the high incidence of depression among patients is frequently noted.  The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) was established by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989 to enhance the quality, appropriateness, and effectiveness of health care services and access.  Among its responsibilities was facilitating the development and updating of clinical practice guidelines to assist practitioners in the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and management of clinical conditions.  More than two decades ago (April 1993), AHCPR issued its guideline on Depression in Primary Care: Detection and Diagnosis – then-APA's Deputy Executive Director for Professional Practice, Russ Newman, was involved in ensuring that psychology's voice would be heard.

"Depression was selected as a topic for guideline development because: * Depressive disorders are commonly encountered in primary care, as well as in other treatment settings.  * Most depressed patients seek care from primary care practitioners.  * A range of effective treatments are available and commonly provided for these conditions.  * There is a large body of scientific evidence on which to base these guidelines.  * Practice surveys indicate that improvements are needed in primary care practitioners' ability to recognize and treat depressive disorders.  * Depressive disorders result in significant morbidity and mortality.  (And) * Depressive disorders have a high prevalence in the general population….  Despite the high prevalence of depressive symptoms and full major depressive episodes in patients of all ages, depression is underdiagnosed and undertreated by primary care and other nonpsychiatric practitioners, who are, paradoxically, the most likely to see these patients initially….  The social stigma surrounding depression is substantial and often prevents the optimal use of current knowledge and treatments.  The cost of the illness in pain, suffering, disability, and death is high….  Clinically significant depressive symptoms are detectable in approximately 12 to 36 percent of patients with another nonpsychiatric, general medical condition…. "  More than two decades ago….  GOOD DAY SUNSHINE.  Aloha,

Pat DeLeon, former APA President – Illinois Psychological Association – September, 2014

 

INTRIGUING REFLECTIONS

The 122^nd APA convention provided an excellent opportunity to reflect upon how far psychology has come in developing into a bona fide healthcare profession, advancing beyond viewing ourselves exclusively as metal health specialists.  It was wonderful to see Beth Rom-Rymer receive well deserved recognition for enacting prescriptive authority (RxP) legislation in Illinois, a decade after Louisiana's success.  For those who naively believe that her success in the backyard of the American Medical Association (AMA) was chance or a "lucky break," that is not at all true.  "The Illinois Medical Society and the Illinois Psychiatric Society vigorously and vociferously lobbied against our RxP bill until they realized that we wouldn't stop fighting and until they had already spent $1 million to keep us out of the prescribing community!"  The key to long term legislative success is community involvement.  Accordingly, we are very pleased that IPA and its state NAMI had each signed on as co-sponsors of their respective annual conferences in 2013 and are already making commitments to do the same for 2014/2015.   Perhaps our colleagues in Hawaii and Oregon, where earlier legislative efforts were vetoed, should reengage in this important legislative quest.

            This was also the 40^th anniversary of the APA Congressional Fellowship program which began with Pam Ebert and continues on today, joined by the APA Executive Branch program.  As Norman Anderson noted the program has supported 121 Fellows.  "As ambassadors for the field, APA Congressional Fellows consistently represent psychology in the best possible manner – to policymakers, their staff, and the scientists from other fields participating in the AAAS program."  This is another proactive initiative that State Associations could emulate at the local level, in conjunction with their academic colleagues.  We are confident that APA's Judith Glassgold, Micah Haskell-Hoehl, and Heather Kelly would be pleased to provide guidance for those interested.  It would be a worthwhile investment in the profession's future.

            Since my retirement from the ever-hectic U.S. Senate staff, I have become increasingly interested in how other colleagues have been adjusting to this new, essentially uncharted role.  Not surprisingly, I have found considerable interest across the country.  During the convention, Rod Baker, Ruth Paige, and Mike Sullivan discussed their personal journeys before an engaged audience reflecting all ages.  Rod has embarked upon a writing career; Ruth is learning not to accept every request for her time – thus spending more with those she really wants to, like family; and Mike continues his volunteer efforts from Peace Corps to Meals on Wheels.  "If you are not happy doing what you are doing, there is only one person you have to talk to!"  Informal discussions afterwards strongly suggest that physical concerns are becoming increasingly common; economic concerns much less so.  As a relatively young healthcare profession, we are increasingly maturing with a number of our individual colleagues actually aging.  We would suggest that this would be an excellent topic for our State Associations to address at annual conferences; especially when held in conjunction with other professions and/or interest groups such as NAMI.  Aging is an agenda which will ultimately impact every one of us.  Aloha,

Pat DeLeon, former APA President – Division 31 – September, 2014

 

COLLEGIAL EFFORTS REQUIRED FOR INCREASING ACCESS TO QUALITY CARE

Reflecting upon the extraordinarily successful APA-ABA 2014 National Conference on Violence, it intrigues me that I never hear about similar events in which State Psychological Associations collaborate with their counterparts representing other non-physician health care providers (or local Bar Association interest groups) in sponsoring joint conferences or annual meetings.  From a public policy frame of reference, there is considerable overlap of interests and clientele.  Throughout President Obama's Patient Protection and Accountable Care Act (ACA) there are a number of provisions encouraging the development of integrated systems of care, which are to be patient-centered and which will rely upon data-based clinical decision making (i.e., gold standard evidence-based protocols).  As the advances occurring within the communications and technology fields (e.g., telehealth, comparative effectiveness research, and various transformational initiatives sponsored by NIH) increasingly impact the health care environment, cross-provider and cross-population comparisons will become the norm.  There is no question that in this changing environment, psychologists will have to objectively demonstrate their "value-add," as APA Practice Directorate Executive Director Katherine Nordal keeps stressing at her annual State Leadership Conferences (SLCs).  Underlying these policy developments is the fundamental question of whether historical "scope-of-practice" limitations and geographical "licensure restrictions" really are in the best interest of patient care?  Unprecedented change is the future of practice.

            In 2010, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released its report The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health.  Among its recommendations were: Nurses should practice to the full extent of their education and training; Nurses should be full partners, with physicians and other health care professionals, in redesigning health care in the United States; and, not surprisingly, Historical scope-of-practice barriers should be removed.  At the suggestion of the Chairperson, former HHS Secretary Donna Shalala, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was urged to: * Review existing and proposed state regulations concerning advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) to identify those that have anticompetitive effects without contributing to the health and safety of the public.  States with unduly restrictive regulations should be urged to amend them to allow APRNs to provide care to patients in all circumstances in which they are qualified to do so.

            This Spring, the FTC held a public workshop to study activities and trends that may affect competition in the evolving health care industry.  Specifically, the intent was to explore current developments related to professional regulations; innovations in health care delivery; advancements in health care technology; measuring and assessing health care quality; and price transparency for health care services.  In the FTC's view: "Professional regulations may protect patient safety, improve quality of care, and provide useful information to consumers who are choosing among health care providers.  Greater competition may result when regulatory changes expand the number of health care providers or services available to consumers by increasing the use of advanced nurse practitioners, dental therapists, and other qualified non-physician or non-dental professionals.  Such increased competition may provide consumers with benefits such as lower prices and improved access to health care services.  Some regulations may, however, unnecessarily restrict the ability of non-physician health care professionals to practice to the full extent of their training, imposing costly limitations on professional services without well-founded consumer safety justifications or other consumer benefits to offset those costs.  Such overly restrictive professional regulations are likely to suppress beneficial competition by non-physician health care providers and may prevent institutional providers (such as hospitals) from developing innovative health care delivery models that rely more heavily on non-physician providers to provide efficient, safe care.  While all patients may be affected by reduced competition from non-physician health care professionals, the impact may be particularly severe for vulnerable and underserved patient populations."

            Some of the critical issues for which public comment was requested include: * To what extent do professional regulations vary by state?  Does state-by-state variation affect patient health, health care spending, or other important measures?  * How do current regulations concerning licensure and credentialing affect the ability of health care professionals to relocate or practice in more than one geographical area, particularly across state lines?  * Would greater state-to-state licensure portability improve competition?  What issues would increased licensure portability raise?  * To what extent is telemedicine being used today?  What new developments are occurring in telemedicine?  What role is telemedicine projected to play in the future?  * Are there regulatory or commercial barriers that may restrict the use of retail clinics, telemedicine, or other new models of health care delivery?  If so, are there any valid justifications to support such restrictions?  And, * What, if any, changes in government regulations would facilitate the emergence of new health care delivery models, enhance competition among health care providers, and encourage additional innovation?

            Earlier in the year, the FTC shared their views with the Massachusetts House of Representatives which was considering legislation (H. 2009) which would remove certain supervision requirements on the state's nurse practitioners (NPs) and nurse anesthetists (NAs).  "We recognize that patient health and safety concerns are of critical importance when states regulate the scope of practice of health care professionals, and FTC staff defer to Massachusetts on the ultimate health and safety standards that the Commonwealth may choose to establish.  We recommend, however, that the legislature seek to maintain only those NA and NP supervision requirements that advance patient protection….  H. 2009 would streamline APRN regulation and permit APRNs to more fully employ their education and experience in serving Massachusetts health care consumers, with regulatory oversight, but without certain formal physician supervision requirements now imposed under Massachusetts law.  Absent countervailing safety concerns regarding APRN practice, removing these supervision requirements has the potential to benefit consumers by improving access to care, containing costs, and expanding innovation in health care delivery."

            Psychology must appreciate that organized medicine's "public health hazard" concerns are not limited to any particular discipline.  In another New England state, a board-certified psychiatric pharmacy specialist "consults" for the University of Connecticut's Student Health Services.  His presence reflects the growing stress on college counseling centers nationally, with an overwhelming proportion of centers reporting seeing increases in the number of students with severe psychological problems.  Yet, the chair of the ApA's Committee on College Mental Health notes that while he understands the pressures on college counseling centers that might make this model seem attractive, it is not an approach he could embrace.  "I think that kind of care ought to be delivered by psychiatrists.  I think it's a very creative idea, in large part driven by cost savings to the university.  But it's not possible for me to be enthusiastic about it….  For me it's a quality of care issue for students at a university.  And the university is obliged to provide the best care possible."  Over time, advances in technology will make possible systematic cross-provider/cross-population comparisons, thereby providing objective data addressing the validity of organized medicine's alleged "patient safety" concerns.  Aloha,

Pat DeLeon, former APA President – Division 42 – August, 2014

 

LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL

Federally Qualified Community Health Centers (FQHCs):  One perhaps unique perspective, which is developed by working on Capitol Hill, is an appreciation for the extent to which various governmental agencies possess fundamentally different missions.  For the vast majority of our colleagues working within the public sector, their underlying mission is to provide needed quality services for designated beneficiaries.  Within the Department of Health and Human Services, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is one of the leading federal agencies addressing the pressing needs of our nation's historically underserved populations.  Dr. Mary Wakefield, the Administrator of HRSA, attended an earlier APA convention.  She recently presented her FY [Fiscal Year] 2015 budget request: "HRSA is the primary Federal agency for improving access to health care services for people who are underinsured, isolated or medically vulnerable….  The implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) presents opportunities to improve access and care quality.  A major component of our budget strategy is to ensure that HRSA's portfolio of programs, including the health center and health workforce programs, are fully aligned with the ACA.  The ACA makes it possible for these programs to be more effective and have an even broader impact on the health of individuals across the country.

            "In FY 2015, the Health Center program will continue to provide high quality, affordable and comprehensive primary care services in medically underserved communities even as insurance coverage expands.  This makes Health centers a critical element of the nation's health care system.  The Budget requests the resources needed to meet a surge in newly-insured patients seeking care at health centers across the country.  The Budget includes $4.6 billion for the Health Center program, including $3.6 billion in mandatory funding through the ACA.  HRSA's FY 2015 budget invests resources to increase the number of health care practitioners in areas of the country experiencing shortages….  (It) also provides two new workforce initiatives, including $10 million to support a new Clinical Training in Interprofessional Practice program to increase the capacity of community-based primary health care teams to deliver quality care….  (And) includes $125 million to improve both access to and the quality of health care in rural areas.  It will strengthen regional and local partnerships among rural health care providers, expand community-based programs and promote the modernization of the health care infrastructure in rural areas.  These efforts will enhance the ability of those insured through the ACA to obtain health care in rural communities….  Our FY 2015 budget request places a strong emphasis on investing in programs that improve access to health care in underserved areas and allows the Health Resources and Services Administration to take important steps toward advancing the impact of the ACA and improving healthcare access, particularly for underserved populations."

            Federally qualified community health centers (FQHCs) are the nation's true safety net, having been established as an integral component of President Johnson's Great Society initiative, when psychologist John Gardner was Secretary of the then-Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW).  Visionary Bob McGrath, Director of Integrated Care for the Underserved of Northeastern New Jersey and the Psychopharmacology training program at Fairleigh Dickinson University: "We just received a HRSA Graduate Psychology Education (GPE) grant to embed psychology doctoral students in a local FQHC."  Bob's success reflects Dr. Wakefield's vision that: "Strengthening the mental and behavioral health workforce is a critically important component of our overall efforts to expand the nation's health care workforce.  Far too many Americans live in areas of the country – both rural and urban -- with limited access to mental and behavioral health services."  In our judgment, federally qualified community health centers, even more than community mental health centers,are the future of public service psychology.  As our colleagues are seeing across the nation during intense local political debates, the U.S. Supreme Court left the final decision as to whether to fully expand Medicaid coverage, as envisioned by the ACA, to the individual states.  As a result, researchers at George Washington University report that more than one million Americans utilizing FQHCs will remain uninsured (and still receive care) simply because they live in one of the 24 states that, to date, has chosen not to expand Medicaid.

            A Vision From The Front Line:  The Institute of Medicine (IOM) recently issued a call for nominations of candidates for a new Anniversary Fellowship in Osteopathic Medicine supporting an early career scholar.  Created to celebrate the 35^thanniversary of the IOM's establishment, the purpose of the IOM Anniversary Fellows programs is to enable talented, early career health policy or health science scholars to participate actively in the work of the IOM and to further their careers as future leaders in the field.  This newest addition to the Anniversary Fellowship Program joins others in the fields of obstetrics and gynecology, internal medicine, family medicine, pharmacy; and biomedical science, population health, and health policy.  The Fellowships are awarded for a two-year period during which time the Fellows are expected to continue working at their main academic post.  They will be assigned to a board of the IOM, attend its meetings, and actively participate in the work of an appropriate expert study committee or roundtable, including contributing to its report or other products.  The Fellows are invited to the IOM Annual Meeting and also take part in an intensive one-week orientation to health policy in Washington, DC.  This introduces the Fellows to a variety of perspectives, including that of legislators, government officials, industry, patient interest groups, scientists, and health professionals.  Each Fellow is assigned to an IOM member who will serve as a senior mentor for the duration of the Fellowship.  In addition, each Fellow is provided with a flexible research stipend of $25,000.  Fellowships require a commitment of 10-20% time.

            Hopefully APA will eventually invest in a similar IOM Fellowship for psychology's future academic leaders.  "As I sit at my desk in the California Capitol, I am taking a moment to breathe and reflect on the past two weeks.  I have been working on a number of controversial bills before the Senate.  One of them is a bill that would require all mental health professionals to show evidence of suicide prevention training as a prerequisite for licensure.  For those who are already practicing, they will have to take a onetime CE course on suicide prevention.  As I examine the rationale provided for this bill, I am shocked.  It appears that everyone has been so focused on the recent suicides that the media has highlighted that they have neglected to do a thorough review of the literature in this area.  In moments like these, I realize that the unique research and clinical training I have been afforded aids me in bringing the empirical evidence to light via my analysis of this bill.  Ultimately, it is up to the Legislators to vote; but the analyses I write serve as a background and context for the decisions they make [Le Ondra Clark Harvey, consultant to the California Senate Committee on Business, Professions and Economic Development]."  Earlier in the year, Le Ondra had noted: "How difficult it was for me to forge a path into the policy arena with no psychology mentors who were doing work in policy and no models for how to get into the policy arena."

The Times They Are A-Changin': The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) is engaged in a new venture, Professions Quest (PQ), in order to develop and produce serious educational games for the healthcare professions.  Launched this year it is located at the Simulation and Gaming Institute in Manassas, VA.  PQ will release its first game Mimyex – in January, 2015.  The competency framework for each quest in the game will be derived from the Core Competencies for Interprofessional Education released in May, 2011 by the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC), which APA has endorsed.  Students of today expect 24/7 access to information and opportunities for learning.  At the same time, higher education leaders are redefining the "institution" as it has historically functioned.  To meet the needs of the learner now and into the future, leaders must examine the current models for education and develop engaging alternatives.  New models must be student-centered and change the learning experience.  PQ will develop and publish virtual, interprofessional, and interactive multiplayer learning solutions targeted specifically towards health professions education institutions and health professions students.  These products and services represent a unique vehicle for interprofessional education – and will deliver increased interaction, collaboration, and knowledge among the health professions and health professions students.  Each player, or player team, will be able to access the Mimyex game and all of their personal and game performance data on desktops or mobile devices anywhere in the U.S.  Students can benchmark their performance in the game against other health professions students.  The education and health care environments are fundamentally changing, with the unprecedented advances occurring almost daily within the communications and technology fields.

The IOM Board on Children, Youth, and Families (BCYF), under the leadership of Kimber Bogard, has a similar appreciation for the impact of technology on the evolving environment of the health care and education fields.  "As part of our continued communications efforts for the BCYF reportSports-Related Concussions in Youth: Improving the Science, Changing the Culture, we have launched a nationwide video contest to help raise awareness among young athletes about the importance of taking concussions seriously.  The 'Play It Safe' video contest is open to anyone ages 13 to 22 interested in creating a 30- to 60-second Public Service Announcement about sport-related concussions.  Topics for the videos may include how youth can overcome a sports culture that often promotes 'shaking it off' and getting back in the game, and how they can help teammates, coaches, and parents better recognize the signs, symptoms, and need for proper treatment of concussions.  The IOM/NRC will pick three winners – one from each age group of middle school, high school, and post-high school – who will each receive a $300 gift card.

"Sports teach valuable lessons – about teamwork, goals, leadership, and how to handle defeat and learn from mistakes.  One lesson we're still learning, though, is when not to play.  Some players resist reporting their injuries or may not take all the time they need to heal, and they can feel pressured to act this way because of their fellow teammates, coaches, or parents.  As many as 1.6 million to 3.8 million sports- and recreation-related concussions and other traumatic injuries are reported each year in the United States."

Inspiring Development Within APA:  All of public service psychology, and Division 18 in particular, should be very pleased that our current President Anne Klee recently announced: "The APPIC-Training Communities CoA Nomination Committee is soliciting nominations for candidates for the APA Commission on Accreditation.  Community Mental Health Centers and Prisons are specifically identified as communities of interest.  This year the Committee will consider individuals representing the internship level of training."  The Division's voice will be heard.  As Katherine Nordal passionately proclaimed at this year's extraordinarily exciting State Leadership Conference (SLC): "Health care reform implementation is a work in progress.  As we confront serious problems and the uncertainty of a health care system in flux, psychology continues to demonstrate that we're poised to face those challenges.  We achieve good results when psychologists get energized and commit themselves to making positive things happen."

A Fantastic Accomplishment:  On June 25, 2014, Beth Rom-Rymer: "Illinois has now become the third state in the country in which licensed clinical psychologists with advanced, specialized training, can prescribe medications for mental health disorders.  Governor Pat Quinn (D), a populist governor who has taken political risks to support social services and mental health care for the underserved in our state, signed our prescriptive authority bill, sponsored by the Illinois Psychological Association, today, at 3:41 CDT.  Our bill had been powerfully and effectively championed by Senator Don Harmon (D), Senator Dave Syverson (R), Representative John Bradley (D), and Representative Raymond Poe (R).

"The rhetoric used against us had been fierce and unrelenting.  Our heroic legislative sponsors brought the American Nurses' Association-Illinois Chapter and the Illinois Society for Advanced Practice Nursing to our side.  What brought the state medical and psychiatric societies to the negotiating table were the psychologists' successive legislative victories in both the Senate and the House; the steady growth of psychology's support from state labor unions, statewide law enforcement associations, African American and Latino/a religious and advocacy networks, and other influential groups; and our steadfastness in staying the course.  In the end, the Medical Society and the Psychiatric Society changed their positions from 'opposed' to 'neutral.'  No significant opposition remained and the votes in both the Illinois State House and State Senate, on May 29^th and 30^th, were overwhelmingly favorable, with the State Senate passing our bill unanimously: 57-0.

"While there are constraints in our law, currently, I have no doubt that these constraints will be lifted over time as our prescribing psychologists demonstrate, not only safe prescribing, but effective prescribing.  After all, prescribing psychologists have a full array of robust therapeutic (psychological as well as pharmacological) interventions that they can make.

"There has been some criticism of our negotiating with our fiercest adversaries and coming to a 'negotiated settlement.'  The beauty of our collaborative work, however, is that the resistance of psychiatrists to working with prescribing psychologists, in the hospitals, medical centers, and training institutions throughout our state is dissipating.  All of the medical health providers have officially agreed that psychologists, with specialized training, can prescribe.  Furthermore, in addressing the infrastructure of mental health in our state, the mental health consumer advocacy organizations, such as NAMI, which have been historical adversaries, are beginning to see us as effective and potent partners in addressing the critical mental health shortages in our state.  It has taken a long time for us to get here, but we have many more miles to travel still before we sleep."  Well it makes no difference whether you're young or old.  Aloha,

 

Pat DeLeon, former APA President – Division 18 – June, 2014

YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE

In the waning days of the Illinois regular legislative session, the Illinois Psychological Association RxP bill passed the House by a vote of 94-21 and unanimously passed the Senate, in a concurrence vote, 57-0.  The bill will now be sent to Governor Pat Quinn.  This is a major accomplishment for Beth Rom-Rymer and her IPA team, who were successful in obtaining the support of the Illinois Society for Advanced Practice Nursing and the American Nurses Association-Illinois, andwere able to change the stance of the Illinois Psychiatric Society and the Illinois Medical Society from "oppose" to "neutral."  Elaine LeVine, who was instrumental in the passage of the New Mexico RxP legislation: "It is amazing!  RxP in the state with the third largest city in the U.S.  We are all so appreciative, Beth, of your skills and dedication to helping our profession grow in this very valuable way.  What a difference this can make to the budding generation of psychologists, and all psychologists will profit from the increased esteem this will bring to the profession.  Another very important gain is that in this state, with a vast number of physicians and psychiatrists, which houses the AMA, the medical consensus now is that psychologists can be trained to prescribe without going to medical or nursing school.  Ten years without passing RxP legislation is a frightening long time, and our opponents have argued in many states that have recently attempted RxP bills that the dearth of passage of new laws is evidence that the passage in New Mexico and Louisiana were anomalies and not a good idea."

Long time APA State Association guru Mike Sullivan: "The last time an RxP law was enacted was Louisiana's in 2004, and I was still at APA.  Although that came just two exciting years after Elaine and Mario Marquez led the way in New Mexico, it was years in the doing.  Louisiana's Jim Quillin used to say: 'If we don't quit, we win.'  He was right – Persistence is the name of the game.  It takes savvy leadership and a huge commitment of resources.  Beth and her IPA team are to be commended for persisting with their vision over the long haul and making it a reality!  With this historic vote, 10% of the state legislatures have now passed psychology RxP bills.  This is no anomaly.  This is a movement for better health care.  Integrating psychology and medicine more closely through RxP gives consumers better treatment options.  Paradoxically, it also reduces reliance on pills as panaceas because of psychology's behavioral expertise."  Now if only our colleagues in Indiana (1993) and Guam (1998) would implement their already enacted legislation – they have already accomplished the most difficult part….  Ultimate success requires vision, persistence, collaborative efforts with stakeholders in the community; and most of all, dedicated commitment by those who genuinely care.

            On June 17^th, 1994 then APA President-elect Bob Resnick attended the graduation ceremonies of Navy Commander John Sexton and Lieutenant Commander Morgan Sammons at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center as they became the first graduates of the Department of Defense Psychopharmacology training program.  Psychology has come a long way.  Aloha,

Pat DeLeon, former APA President – Division 31 – June, 2014

 

ALL THE LEAVES ARE BROWN AND THE SKY IS GRAY

Change Is Forever Upon Us:  One of the advantages of working on Capitol Hill for an extended period of time is developing an appreciation for evolving national trends.  It would seem, for example, that there are increasing signs of bipartisan Congressional collaboration which will eventually allow state delegations to once again effectively address the unique needs of their constituents (perhaps even through the "ear-mark" process).  It is also clear that our nation's health care environment is undergoing unprecedented and fundamental change as a result of the enactment of President Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), as well as the increasing application of computer technology to health care delivery, including research and educational endeavors.  At this year's exciting APA State Leadership Conference (SLC), visionary Practice Directorate Executive Director Katherine Nordal provided an optimistic view: "Health care reform implementation is a work in progress. And there are hopeful signs, especially related to the goal of increasing the ranks of Americans with health insurance coverage.  As we confront serious problems and the uncertainty of a health care system in flux, psychology continues to demonstrate that we're poised to face those challenges.  A combination of professional, marketplace, legislative and regulatory developments encourages more collaborative, multi-disciplinary practice models.  As the landscape shifts towards more integrated care, new reimbursement mechanisms will emerge.  The demand for evidence-based practices and use of quality measures related to process and outcome, including behavioral health measures, will grow.  And the increasing use of technology for electronic health record keeping and Telepsychology service delivery will continue to evolve.  Many of our members -- especially our early career colleagues -- seem attuned to this evolution.  We achieve good results when psychologists get energized and commit themselves to making positive things happen."

            Unchartered Waters:  One of the most valued bipartisan (i.e., nonpartisan) health care resources for those serving on Capitol Hill is the Alliance for Health Reform, led by Ed Howard, a former staffer for then-Congressman Sparky Matsunaga.  This past month the Alliance addressed "Patient-Centered Medical Homes (PCMH): The Promise and The Reality" -- a critical element of the ACA in which psychology is not mentioned.  While the PCMH model has increasingly been embraced by providers and payers as a way to improve health care and lower costs, many questions remain about its effectiveness.  Definitions of medical homes vary, but they are generally known as a model that aims to transform primary care through increased coordination and communication among a team of providers.  Recent medical home initiatives have encouraged primary care practices to invest in capabilities such as patient registries and electronic health records (EHRs), and to achieve medical home recognition.  Health plans offer to pay more to the practices that achieve recognition.  What do these models look like under different payers?  Given variation in how PCMHs are set up and reimbursed, how scalable are these models?  How long does it take for practices to make the PCMH transformation?  What are some of the challenges practices face when making the transition?  Do these models have an effect on costs?  Do they improve quality of care?

Another Alliance briefing focused upon "Health Centers at the Launch of the Coverage Expansion."  Eighty-four percent of health center patients earn under 200% of the federal poverty level.  Implementation of health information technology (HIT) by health centers has more than doubled since 2009; however, many health center leaders report provider shortages, especially with the anticipated influx of new patients and focusing upon integrating behavioral health.  Health centers may face a funding cliff after the $11 billion mandatory trust fund created by the ACA expires in 2015.  This calls into question whether or not there is adequate continued support for health centers and whether or not they have the stability to continue to meet the needs of new patients.  Funding for health centers is not only about grants, but payment models.  Total grant income is only 9% of the budget of one highlighted center, while Medicaid accounts for 60%.  The evidence suggests that health centers save money by providing good quality primary care to people who otherwise would have difficulty getting it.  There are 1.1 million people currently utilizing health centers who would be eligible for insurance coverage if their state expands Medicaid to the 133% of poverty level.  In those 24 states that have chosen not to expand Medicaid, these individuals remain uninsured and yet must still be served.  The Commonwealth Fund reports that spurred by federal investments and financial incentives to more fully embrace HIT, 85% of centers report they had achieved advanced HIT capacities in 2013 – meaning they could perform at least nine of 13 key functions, such as electronically prescribing medications.  The 2009 rate was just 30%.  Pursuant to Senator Inouye's vision, there is now a federally qualified community health center on every island in Hawaii, including Molokai and Lana'i.  Robert Hirokawa is the Executive Director of the Hawai'i Primary Care Association (HPCA).

            Integrated Care:  The movement towards integrated care, interdisciplinary collaboration, and effective utilization of computer technology (i.e., HIT, Telepsychology, and Comparative Effectiveness Research exploring cross population and cross provider outcomes) was also highlighted at the 17^th annual VA Psychology Leadership (AVAPL) Conference – "Serving Veterans through Interprofessional Care and Expanding Partnerships."  APA President Nadine Kaslow and former VA Chief Consultant for Mental Health Toni Zeiss provided a visionary global perspective.  Kathy McNamara, Theodora Stratis, and Henry Beck represented Hawaii.  The VA has been the national leader in these areas, especially under the leadership of Toni and her husband Robert Zeiss who has made post-doctoral training a high VA priority, which is expected to support 400 positions in 2014-15.  It was fascinating to listen to early career colleagues talking about their work on cancer units, organ transplant units, and with local police departments.  Half of the highly enthusiastic attendees were early career psychologists or interns/post-doctoral fellows.  The poster sessions emphasized transformational change, burnout among veterans, weight loss predictions, and the importance of active community involvement.  The leadership of AVAPL announced that henceforth their scholarships will be named in honor of APA's Randy Phelps for all that he has done for public service psychology over the decades.  From a public policy perspective, the one missing element was representation from Division 19, the Society for Military Psychology – they are the Veterans of tomorrow.

            USUHS:  Having the opportunity to teach at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) provides a unique perspective on the contributions psychology and advanced practice nursing can make to our nation's military and their families.  I have been especially pleased with the extent to which APA and APS, as well as national nursing organizations, have been willing to provide USUHS students with special training experiences.  APA's Donna Beavers, for example, invited LT. Chantal Meloscia, a Navy officer studying clinical psychology, to attend the recent conference titled "Confronting Family and Community Violence: The Intersection of Law and Psychology."  "The conference was hosted by both APA and the American Bar Association (ABA) with a focus on the effects of violence on communities and families, as well as exploring ways to integrate law and psychology services in response to community and family violence.  The conference participants included psychologists, attorneys, other clinicians, educators, child advocates, judges, and many more professionals involved in both the law and psychology fields.  The keynote speaker addressed how the intersection of psychology and law can help to reduce the exposure of children in the United States to trauma and violence.  Another important theme that emerged from a series of the sessions was the role of the collaboration between law and psychology to support military members and Veterans.  Across these various talks, the message portrayed was that stress, trauma, and exposure to violence can influence the way military members and Veterans behave, leading to increased interaction with the criminal justice system.  The creation of specialized Mental Health, Substance Abuse, and Veterans Treatment courts has shifted the focus of courts for these populations to rehabilitation.  Particularly important in focusing on rehabilitation is the increased benefit not just for the individual, but for the family of the individual, especially if children are involved.  As legal and psychology professionals continue to work together to develop informed policy and rehabilitative court systems, military members and Veterans affected by stress, trauma, and violence will obtain the support they need to heal.  The APA and ABA conference provided an inspiring forum for those professionals to continue this incredibly important collaboration."  Interdisciplinary collaboration is the future.  Accordingly, we would be very pleased to learn of plans for a similar HPA-HBA conference in the near future.

            At USUHS, we strive to facilitate health policy experiences, which are a required competency within nursing – but not psychology.  Following up from SLC -- "Thanks for sharing this.  I have recently had some conversations with students and colleagues about the lack of training that we as psychologists receive in policy.  I often speak about how it was difficult for me to forge a path into the policy arena with no psychology mentors who were doing work in policy and no models for how to get into the policy arena.  As the healthcare system and models of care become more and more integrated, it is incumbent that psychologists be prepared to work in inter/multidisciplinary settings and also learn about how to interact with and impact the policy arena" (Le Ondra Clark, consultant California Senate Committee on Business, Professions and Economic Development).  California Dreamin'.  Aloha,

Pat DeLeon, former APA President – HPA – June, 2014