What is the APAPO doing for Integrated Care?

I love integrated care! I’ve been fully integrated into health clinics since the beginning of my career, working with women’s health, sleep clinics, headache clinics, bariatric clinics, and now a medical breast clinic. I was fortunate enough to receive excellent training through practicum, a health psychology internship and fellowship. As healthcare reform continues to evolve, many psychologists are considering moving from private practice into integrated care. But they may be thinking, “How do I do this? Do I need more training?”. Particularly relevant to the APAPO, there are issues when working in integrated care with billing, reimbursement, advocacy, and legal/regulatory bodies.

A word of caution: Just because I am highlighting integrated care issues addressed by the APAPO, it doesn’t mean that the PO is not still interested and addressing the interests of independent practice. There is a healthy representation of independent practitioners in APAPO leadership, and their voices are appreciated. I am proud that the APAPO is able to provide a professional home to both independent practice AND integrated health folks.

APAPO and Integrated Health

Policy. The APAPO is working on a policy addressing c-6 issues in integrated care that is a companion to the APA Council policy. The policy addresses issues such as colocation & collaboration, workforce development, quality and outcome assessment, and reimbursement challenges. The hope is that the policy can be used to guide advocacy efforts and support legal/regulatory activities related to integrated care. So far, the policy has made it through the public comment period (thanks for your feedback!), and the comments are being incorporated back into the document. Its next step is review by the APAPO Board. This is the APAPO’s first official policy and we are excited to be part of the process.

Webinars. Have you taken advantage of the free webinars for APAPO members available recently? Dr. Helen Coons and Connie Galetti from APAPO staff put on a terrific recent webinar “Transitioning Your Psychology Practice to Primary or Specialty Health Care: Are These Settings Right for You?” Other webinars have included our APAPO President Dr. Puente on coding. These are a great resource for those interested in integrated care.

Training Opportunities: One excellent opportunity is through the APA Center for Health. APA worked together with CMS and received a grant to help train psychologists in integrated care models. The Integrated Health Care Alliance was developed by experts in integrated health care, and provides a training and support network leading to new skills for integrated practice care. The idea is to give psychologists the tools to transform their clinical practice. Hopefully, this will increase psychologists’ participation in the healthcare system and with healthcare teams, position psychologists for value based reimbursement in the future, and improve patient outcomes by addressing the behavioral health component of patient care.

The program consists of online CE courses, an assessment of your practice, and access to an ongoing support network. You can earn up to 8 CE credits. Psychologists in anything from solo to large group practices are eligible, After you enroll in the IHCA, you will get access to the APA’s six-hour training on integrated primary care. Access to a two-hour training on business and payment models for integrated primary care will be available in a few months. Additionally, throughout the three-year project duration, you will gain access to other relevant training and materials, technical assistance, and more. Those that enroll will also be expected to complete assessments on how well their practice is integrated throughout the program.