Adaptive Leadership in a Time of Change
Since my last CAPP update, the election has taken place. Whatever your political leanings, the results-- along with ongoing flux in healthcare reform-- have implications for psychologists. We continue to live in a time of unprecedented speed of change . We need to be able to adapt, be nimble, and adjust.
APAPO continues to work for the interests of practicing psychologists with this in mind. As you’ll remember, CAPP is adjusting to our changing reality by doing many of our meetings virtually. Our first virtual meeting of the year was January 25 under the leadership of returning CAPP Chair, Kate Brown, and newly elected Vice Chair, Lindsay Buckman. We welcomed new CAPP members, Diana Prescott, Tyler Bradstreet (APAGS representative), Jorge Wong, Jean Carter (ex-officio, APA Treasurer), and Brett Hom (appointed). Arthur Evans, recently appointed the new CEO of the APAPO and APA, stepped down from CAPP to fulfill these new roles. He will be beginning his role as CEO on March 20th. Congratulations Arthur!
Serving our members needs by protecting and promoting the practice of psychology continues to be a key focus. CAPP discussed membership models to keep the APAPO sustainable. If you haven’t renewed your Practice Organization membership yet, this is the time: https://my.apa.org/apa/idm/login.seam?ERIGHTS_TARGET=https://memforms.apa.org/apa/cli/dues/dues.cfm If you’ve already renewed, thank you! You are helping the Practice Organization to advocate and promote professional psychology issues every day.
We are looking forward to a new, streamlined and renamed Practice Leadership Conference (PLC; formerly State Leadership Conferenct/ SLC) March 4-7 in Washington D.C. The theme is “Practice, Politics, and Policy.” CAPP and the APAPO Board of Directors will be meeting on Monday March 6, and CAPP leaders will be available during the Committee of State Leaders Town Hall meeting Monday March 6th at 2 PM. The slates for candidates for CAPP will be announced prior to PLC (February 6th), and this is a great time to consider running for this important leadership role. More information about running can be found at http://www.apapracticecentral.org/about/governance.aspx, and please reach out to current CAPP members as well.
CAPP is working on an Integrated Care Policy to support the work of the APAPO to promote psychologists in integrated care. The policy affirms support for the APA Council Resolution on the same topic, while working to include c-6 language on reimbursement challenges, advocacy with insurance companies, reimbursement for trainees, and legal barriers for business partnerships with physicians. In addition, it expands on the APA resolution by addressing training/workforce development, coding/reimbursement issues, colocation/coordination of care, and systems/outcomes research importance to reimbursement.
Dr. Katherine Nordal and Dr. Kate Brown will be meeting again with APA Council to provide a report on the APAPO and update on 2016 activities and 2017 goals. This has been a well-received event in highlighting the importance of advocacy and legal/regulatory work for the organization.
Doug Walter from the Government Relations office provided an update on advocacy issues. He notes two top priorities as legislation to repeal of the Affordable Care Act and the Medicare Physician Definition. Psychologists from the APAPO will be going to the Hill on March 7th as part of PLC to advocate on these issues. In early January, 7,400 psychologists sent messages to Congress “No repeal without replacement” highlighting the insurance market protections such as nondiscrimination/ability to purchase with pre-existing conditions, expansions to mental health parity, and the Medicaid expansion so important to our consumers and psychologists. APAPO sent letters to the President’s office and the House and Senate leadership on the impact on psychology: http://www.apapracticecentral.org/advocacy/index.aspx They are soliciting letters from psychologists this week on the impact repeal without replacement would have on psychologists and their patients.
CAPP continues to be engaged on the discussion of the EPPP2. CECP and APAGS are working on advocating for sequence of training changes that would allow for the EPPP1 to be taken earlier. Both Tyler Bradstreet and Lindsay Buckman are involved with this effort and keeping CAPP posted.
Upcoming CAPP meetings are as follows: March 6th at PLC; April 19th (virtual), July (virtual), and October (in person). I will be live tweeting from PLC and complete a blog post to update folks on this impressive event.
I’d like to end this blog by reaching out to you. If you are a practicing psychology (and I’m guessing you are if you are reading this), how is the APAPO serving you? I’d love to pass on feedback on the Practice Organization’s advocacy efforts, direction, and membership services. What can we do to make your life as a practicing psychologist better?
Additional links:
Practice Leadership Conference: http://www.apapracticecentral.org/advocacy/state/leadership/index.aspx
Federal Action Alerts: No repeal without replacement:
http://cqrcengage.com/apapolicy/app/write-a-letter?3&engagementId=272953
2016 Advocacy Victories
http://cqrcengage.com/apapolicy/2016highlights
*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.
