Update on the American Psychiatric Association – Part 2

Wednesday, June 26, 2019

Show Notes

By Jacqueline Posada, MD, 4th-year resident in the department of psychiatry & behavioral sciences at George Washington University, Washington.

Lorenzo Norris, MD, interview with Saul Levin, MD, MPA, CEO and medical director of the American Psychiatric Association (APA). Dr. Levin also is clinical professor at George Washington University.

Improving access to care and impact of psychiatrists is imperative.

Finding a doctor: More physicians need to be trained. Increasing the number of physicians can be accomplished through initiatives funded by the government and by private medical centers.
- Innovation in training at both undergraduate and graduate levels is needed to increase the number of physicians across all specialties.
- Debt repayment: The APA is encouraging the federal government to diversify its loan repayment options, such as by making it possible for psychiatrists to practice in more diverse but underserved places in exchange for loan repayment.
Getting to a doctor: Telepsychiatry and collaborative care are means of increasing access.
- Collaborative/integrative care: The psychiatrist acts as an adviser to a whole team and then offers direct patient care in more complex cases.
- Telepsychiatry improves access by decreasing stigma and reducing commute time to and from patient visits.
  - Both psychiatrists and patients save time and gain convenience.
Using evidence-based treatments (EBT) is important in psychiatry.
- One goal is to advance the use of EBT to enhance the impact of psychiatric treatment, especially by using quality measures (for example, the nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire) to validate the impact of treatment.
- The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has given grants to medical associations such as the APA to create quality measures to quantify/validate the impact of treatments in an effort to foster more EBT in psychiatry.

Conclusion: Advocating on behalf of people with psychiatric disorders requires a broad approach.

The APA lobbies for fairness, parity, and quality treatment.
The group works to advance EBTs and new treatments.
Recruitment of diverse individuals to psychiatry is important.
“Moonshot” level research is integral to the advancement of psychiatry and the mental health of the patients.
The APA strives to balance a mission of government advocacy and individual psychiatrist education.

References

APA Innovation Lab

Mental health parity advocacy

Advocacy and APAPAC

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Podcast Participants

^{Lorenzo Norris, MD}

Lorenzo Norris, MD, is host of the MDedge Psychcast, editor in chief of MDedge Psychiatry, and assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at George Washington University, Washington. He also serves as assistant dean of student affairs at the university, and medical director of psychiatric and behavioral sciences at GWU Hospital. Dr. Lorenzo Norris has no conflicts of interest.

^{Renee Kohanski, MD}

Renée S. Kohanski, MD, is a board-certified psychiatrist with additional training in forensic psychiatry. She has been a board examiner for the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, and has enjoyed a broad-based practice in academic, community, and forensic psychiatry. She is currently a solo practitioner and owner of RK Psychiatry Associates and serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of MDEdge Psychiatry. Talkers magazine describes Dr. Kohanski as “one of the most reliable ‘go-to’ sources for insights and information about psychiatry in the media today.” Dr. Renée Kohanski has no conflicts of interest.