Will do! See you all Friday. -----Original Message----- From: arpaleadership-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:arpaleadership-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of ADAM BENTON Sent: Tuesday, February 10, 2015 8:06 AM To: arpaleadership@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [arpaleadership] Re: [EXTERNAL] Re: Pre-Work for Council Strategic Issue Discussion That sounds like a great idea Courtney! Can you present this to the board on Friday for their stamp of approval? Thanks again for your work on this. Adam > On Feb 9, 2015, at 8:49 AM, Ghormley, Courtney O. <Courtney.Ghormley@xxxxxx> > wrote: > > These are all great points and important to the future of psychology. In > preparation for the APA Council meeting, I'm able to submit 3 issues in order > of importance to Arkansas psychologists. I have to upload them to APA by > Friday, Feb. 13th. > > It looks like we might be able to combine a few of these particularly the > ones involving reimbursement issues (i.e. reimbursement rates, parity, > payment of CPT codes to support integrated care, and payment for > tele-psychology). > > Can we come to a consensus as to what those 3 topics will be? I know you all > have many issues on the agenda for the BOD meeting this Friday, so I'm hoping > we can do most of this over email. > > Thanks, > Courtney > APA COR Representative for Arkansas > > Courtney O. Ghormley, PhD, ABPP > Geropsychologist / Geriatric Neuropsychology Board Certified in > Geropsychology > > Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System > 2200 Fort Roots Drive (3B-Geriatrics) > North Little Rock, AR 72114 > 501-257-3234 > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: arpaleadership-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > [mailto:arpaleadership-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of ADAM BENTON > Sent: Friday, February 06, 2015 9:35 AM > To: arpaleadership@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > Subject: [EXTERNAL] [arpaleadership] Re: Pre-Work for Council > Strategic Issue Discussion > > Thank you Courtney! I’m so glad we have you in a position to advocate for > Arkansa’s psychologist. I’m providing 5 issues. Hopefully others' responses > can help you decide which three to present. > > 1. Reimbursement rates. Our field has scientifically proven treatments that > are, in many cases, the most effective approaches to treatment. However, > often the lesser effective approaches are paid substantially more and are > easier to access. Case in point: childhood anxiety. I saw seven-year-old > yesterday with mild anxiety. All guidelines I know of stress CBT as the > first-line treatment for anxious children. She has been on Zoloft for over a > year and seen no improvement. Her 15-minute appointment with the psychiatrist > for a med check could result in payment of $250. My hour of CBT, which > included parent coaching, psycho-education and live practicing of skills to > manage anxiety, will earn me between $37 and $130 depending on their > insurance company. It seems that more effective and time intensive treatments > should receive higher payments. I know there are other factors that weigh > into cost formulas, but our field could advocate better for reimbursement > rates. > > 2. Parity issues. Our clinic repeatedly comes across insurance plans that > have different coverage and separate deductibles for mental health. Insurance > companies argue they are meeting the parity requirements bc they provide some > coverage. But the coverage is not equal or sufficient. Also, those in mental > health have to work harder than those in physical health to get paid. Mental > health providers have more prior authorizations and other red tape that > complicates the process for families and providers. > > 3. Regarding integrated care… Our clinic has sought opportunities to place > clinicians in medical offices, but have faced significant barriers with > billing. We need changes to the CPT codes that make integrated care teams > possible in primary care clinics, such as billing for collaboration between > providers and bill multiple services on the same day or even at the same > time. > > 4. Lack of APA training sites for psychologists and the year of post-doctoral > purgatory, where doctorally trained individuals can’t bill most insurances, > are both problematic. > > 5. Tele-psychology reimbursement across all insurance companies would allow > more people to access to services in rural states like Arkansas. As of now, > only a few companies reimburse for tele-health or tele-psychology services. > >> On Feb 5, 2015, at 11:11 AM, Seay, Amy D <ADSeay@xxxxxxxx> wrote: >> >> My top issue would be the role of psychologists in primary care/integrated >> medicine. I am also interested in reimbursement for telemedicine. As a >> state, I would be interested in behavioral health codes being reimbursed by >> Medicaid but I don’t know if that is a strategic issue facing psychology >> that APA would like to know about as currently it is a state by state issue…. >> That’s my 2 cents. >> >> From: arpaleadership-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx >> [mailto:arpaleadership-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Kristin >> Addison-Brown >> Sent: Thursday, February 05, 2015 11:09 AM >> To: arpaleadership@xxxxxxxxxxxxx >> Subject: [arpaleadership] Re: Pre-Work for Council Strategic Issue >> Discussion >> >> I agree with Betty, except that I would personally make her #3 my #1. >> >> On Thu, Feb 5, 2015 at 10:59 AM, Everett, Betty L. <EverettBettyL@xxxxxxxx> >> wrote: >> Hi just some thoughts from my perspective. 1. The issues of the role >> in primary care , integrated medicine is a top priority to me. A second >> issue perhaps not as global is the difficulties with funding internships >> and training. I would love to find a way for interns to be credentialed to >> bill insurance for services ( maybe we will do away with the fee for >> service concept but I think that is a long time coming!). So, one idea is >> provisional Ph.D. during internship year so a license accepted by >> institutions, insurance as practitioners….. A significant third issue to me >> is leadership in taking back from 3rd party payers significant clinical >> decisions. >> >> From: arpaleadership-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx >> [mailto:arpaleadership-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Ghormley, Courtney >> O. >> Sent: Thursday, February 05, 2015 10:15 AM >> To: arpaleadership@xxxxxxxxxxxxx >> Subject: [arpaleadership] Pre-Work for Council Strategic Issue >> Discussion >> >> Greetings ArPA Leadership, >> >> As your APA Council of Representatives member, I am preparing for our >> upcoming council meeting (February 19-22) in Washington, DC. Each Council >> representative has been asked to poll our respective Executive Committee >> about the most critical, top three, strategic issues facing the discipline >> over the next 5-10 years. >> >> Note that by “strategic issues facing psychology” we mean high level, >> overarching concerns that will influence many if not most areas of >> psychology in the next decade or so and/or that will influence how >> psychology interacts with the world around it. Examples might include >> psychology’s role in primary care and globalization/internationalization. >> These results will be aggregated by APA staff and be made use of during the >> Council strategic issue discussions. >> >> What I need from you is input! As a group, we need to decide on ArPA’s top >> three, critical, strategic issues that we believe are facing the discipline >> over the next 5-10 years, and I’ll be sure to communicate this to APA for >> discussion at the upcoming Council meeting. >> >> Thanks in advance for your thoughts! >> >> Courtney Ghormley >> APA Council Representative from Arkansas >> >> Courtney O. Ghormley, PhD, ABPP >> Geropsychologist / Geriatric Neuropsychology Board Certified in >> Geropsychology >> >> Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System >> 2200 Fort Roots Drive (3B-Geriatrics) North Little Rock, AR 72114 >> 501-257-3234 >> >> >> >> >> Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any attachments, is >> for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential >> and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or >> distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please >> contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original >> message. >> >> >> >> -- >> Kristin J. Addison-Brown, PhD >> Owner/Clinical Neuropsychologist >> NEA Neuropsychology, PLLC >> 304 Southwest Square >> Jonesboro, Arkansas 72401 >> Ph: 870-203-6085 >> Fax: 870-203-6083 >> neaneuropsychology.com > >