APAPO CAPP update : Value, Voice, and Voting*
As the election finishes, I’m struck by what a difficult and divisive time it is in our country. APA has done a great job with its timely “Stress in America” survey discussing just how stressful it has been and continues to be for Americans. The campaign has had excellent media pickup, and I know many APAPO practicing psychologists and APAPO staff have been involved in print, television, and radio interviews. What great exposure for psychology and psychologists! I think many of us have taken each other’s advice over the past few weeks. Whatever your political affiliation and feelings about the outcome of the election, engaging in the political process is important to have a voice about so many issues affecting psychologists and consumers.
Our own APAPO elections have concluded in just our second election that gives Practice Organization members a voice in their leadership; Congratulations to the newly elected members of CAPP: Dr. Lindsay Buckman will return on the Early Career Slate, Dr. Jorge Wong on the Development/Management/Administrative Experience in Large Systems slate, and Dr. Diana Prescott on the Expanded Practice in Health Care slate. Thank you to all the candidates who were willing to serve, and thank you to all members who took the time to vote. Just like in national elections, it is important to make your vote count. CAPP is working on ways to tweak the CAPP election process; look forward to a CAPP candidates’ forum at APA Convention next year to give you more time to meet greet the candidates. CAPP is also working on a matrix system to help recruit slates of candidates that fill areas of expertise, diversity, and skills needed to lead the Practice Organization.
EPPP-2. CAPP met virtually to discuss EPPP2. We discussed the financial implications of the test, including for already tapped-out ECPs with long delays into practice as well as possible positive impact on payors. There was discussion regarding the movement in healthcare toward competency based assessment. There were concerns on the how and when the EPPP will be implemented. Members had some consensus about the important role for CAPP to disseminate information to its members and work to convene different stakeholders for discussion (especially two way interaction between ECPs and ASPPB).
Center for Health received a grant from CMS to train 6,000 psychologists in integrated care and value based models Opportunities will include a free 8 hour continuing education course and the Center will be working closely with SPTAs. The grant is part of the Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative (TCPI). The initiative is one part of a strategy supported by the Affordable Care Act to strengthen the quality of patient care and spend health care dollars more wisely.
CAPP’s Integrated Care Workgroup is drafting a companion policy to the APA Council policy on Integrated Care, with the goal to include language and direction on reimbursement and insurance issues relevant to integrated care from a Practice Organization viewpoint. This will represent one of the first APAPO originated policies, so it will be interesting to see it go through our new process.
It’s also membership renewal time for APA and APAPO. Please renew your Practice Organization membership! We value our practice members and want to hear more of their voice. Only Practice Organization members can vote in APAPO CAPP elections, and only Practice Organization members have access to business of practice tools and other APAPO services. CAPP is working hard to continue to bring value to your Practice Organization membership. If you haven’t renewed, here is the website: https://my.apa.org/apa/idm/login.seamERIGHTS_TARGET=https://memforms.apa.org/apa/cli/dues/dues.cfm
You still renew your Practice Organization dues when you renew APA dues. APA/APAPO staff are working hard to make it easier for those of you who are APA members only to add Practice Organization membership. We should see a simplified website process by the end of November. I’m particularly looking forward to eliminating the need to make a phone call to add Practice Organization membership. I know how much I avoid picking up the phone, and my gut tells me that early career psychologists will not renew anything that can’t be done online!
The Practice Organization and APA continue to discuss different membership options to address the divide between the c3 and c6 organizations. Both organizations have been hit with financial struggles and membership retention issues in the past year, with the guild organization (Practice Organization) hit harder given its reliance on membership dues. Stay tuned for more information as the options are reviewed and fine-tuned.
One of the newest Practice Organization benefits is a members’ only listserv. It’s an opt-in listserv: sign up here: http://lists.apapractice.org/cgi-bin/wa-apapractice.exe?SUBED1=APAPRACTICEORG&A=1 The great thing about an APAPO listserv is we can discuss advocacy issues in a way that is prohibited on APA listservs. We’re looking forward to the listserv being a two way communication tool between the Practice Organization and members, so let us know what you think!
Here’s an example of a listserv post:
10/28/16 12:24 PM Practice Organization Listserv <APAPRACTICEORG@LISTS.APAPRACTICE.ORG>; on behalf of; Lindsey Buckman buckmanconsulting@GMAIL.COM
Please see the message from Diane Pedulla below.
APAPO is aware that CMS is sending out notices to psychologists who did not successfully report PQRS measures in 2015. Problems with the program’s Measure Validation Process (MAV) in 2014 caused some psychologists to be penalized when they in fact reported correctly. We want to determine if CMS has resolved the MAV issue or if a flaw in this process remains.
We will pursue this matter with CMS so long as psychologists who believe they reported correctly in 2015 are willing to provide us with a copy of their individual performance report. Psychologists who believe they are being wrongly penalized should also request an informal review of their 2015 PQRS reporting. Assistance in accessing the report is available through the QualityNet Help Desk: Phone: 1-866-288-8912 TTY: 1-877-715-6222 Monday – Friday; 7 AM–7 PM CST Qnetsupport@hcqis.org
The APAPO PQRSPRO registry was designed to focus on the needs of psychologists and other mental and behavioral health providers. APAPO negotiated with the registry vendor for the lowest individual and group rates possible for all registry participants. Rates have not risen in the three reporting years that the registry has been in existence.
Anyone with questions about PQRS is welcome to contact Government Relations by telephone (202-336-5889) or email (practgov@apa.org).
Best,
Lindsey R Buckman, Psy.D.
What are other ways to get Practice Organization news? You’ll see that Practice Update has a new format and look when you open It from your email. If you missed the last issue, catch up here on issues such as the CMS MACRA rule, the President’s parity task force, and talking money with patients. You can also follow the Practice Organization on Twitter: @APAPractice to stay up to date on APAPO events.
With changes happening in Washington, it will be more important than ever for psychologists to stay informed about federal healthcare changes and to have a voice at the federal level. The Practice Organization is an excellent resource for psychologists during this time of change.
Links:
Stress in America Survey: http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2016/10/presidential-election-stress.aspx
Renew Practice Organization Membership:https://my.apa.org/apa/idm/login.seamERIGHTS_TARGET=https://memforms.apa.org/apa/cli/dues/dues.cfm
Join Practice Organization Listserv: http://lists.apapractice.org/cgi-bin/wa-apapractice.exe?SUBED1=APAPRACTICEORG&A=1
View Practice Update: http://apapracticecentral.org/update/index.aspx
Center for Health Grant: http://apapracticecentral.org/update/2016/10-06/transforming-clinical-practice.aspx
*As a reminder, this blog is not an official APAPO or CAPP communication. This is my personal take on APAPO/CAPP activities. My goal is to provide timely and transparent information on APAPO/CAPP to APAPO members.
