For the past decade, members of Division 48 (Peace) and Division 39 (Psychoanalysis) of the APA have filed and/or supported licensure and ethics complaints and attempted to instigate criminal investigations against military psychologists for abusing detainees. None of these accusations has been found to be credible, presented as they were in the absence of evidence […]
American Psychological Association (APA) officials are “hopeful” a lawsuit sparked by the Hoffman Report can be settled soon but declined further comment. “Because the case is still in litigation, it would not be appropriate for us to comment at this time,” Kim Mills, APA’s interim senior communications advisor, told The National Psychologist in December. “We […]
At its Jan. 11 meeting, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) voted 14-2 to replace the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) with the “voluntary value program” (VVP). The medical community has already been abuzz with the news, including blogs to AMA membership about “MedPAC’s latest lead balloon,” and frank discussion of VVP’s impact on electronic […]
Washington, D.C. – After hours of heated debate, the governing body of the American Psychological Association (APA) voted overwhelmingly to approve a reorganization plan that will require all members to pay for lobbying and will expand that lobbying beyond practicing psychologists. “I think we are at a critical moment,” CEO Arthur C. Evans Jr., Ph.D., […]
At its August 2017 meeting the Council of Representatives of the American Psychological Association (APA) approved a seven-year renewal of geropsychology as a recognized specialty in professional psychology. Victor Molinari, Ph.D., professor at the University of South Florida, said a primary benefit of the specialty recognition is to raise the profile of the field by […]
Because psychologists are exempt for the next two years from the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) for Medicare providers that rolled out in January, some are breathing sighs of relief with no worries of incurring financial penalties for not screening for conditions patients do not mention. They argue that the exemption will save time and […]
Much information from the Internet, social media and even broadcast media gives the perception that individuals with serious mental disorders are automatically at a high risk of committing horrific violence. Often such reports sensationalize the relationship of mental disorders to violence in a manner consistent with stigmatic personal perceptions not supported by scientific findings. These […]
Washington, D.C. – APA is preparing two sets of practice guidelines, which has many psychologists confused on what the difference is and others concerned that the results may be misapplied by insurers or licensing boards. Those concerns carried over from the March 9-10 meeting of the Council of Representatives to the overlapping March 10-13 Practice […]
Two governance items from the August meeting of the Council of Representatives of the American Psychological Association (APA) deserve immediate action from APA members. The full minutes are available at http://www.apa.org/about/governance/council/minutes-summer-2017.pdf. The two that bear comment follow. The first reads: “VII. PUBLICATIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS A.(12) Council voted to approve amending the Association Rules as follows […]
Psychologists in many parts of the country who routinely bill for an hour psychotherapy session have been receiving letters from insurance companies that show their practice patterns are being carefully scrutinized, causing anxiety about future audits. Alan Nessman, J.D., senior special counsel in the Legal and Regulatory Affairs Office of the American Psychological Association (APA), […]
