Task Force Appointed to Address Psychologist-Prescribing Issues

APA is committed to putting an end to psychologists' bid to win prescription privileges throughout the United States, and as part of a strategy to focus that commitment, the Board of Trustees agreed with me at our June retreat to create a special component called the Presidential Task Force to Review the Psychologist Prescribing Issue.

At the time of the retreat, Louisiana had just passed a psychologist-prescribing law—the second in the nation—and we anticipated that 2005 would see a flurry of similar legislation in several states. We resolved that such a law should not pass elsewhere.

Members of other medical specialties told us at our retreat that psychiatry is not alone in confronting assaults on safe patient care and that, to date, APA has done laudable work to halt attempts by psychologists to gain prescribing rights. But they also confirmed our forecast for 2005: With two state victories behind them, psychologists will fight for prescribing privileges in even more states.

The Board recognized that a task force would be a key step toward reinforcing and intensifying APA's advocacy on scope-of-practice and related patient safety issues—top priorities for us then, now, and in 2005 and beyond. And so the Presidential Task Force to Review the Psychologist Prescribing Issue was formed.

The task force has been charged with providing the Board with comprehensive short- and long-range strategies to address our scope-of-practice and patient safety concerns, and it will provide a report to the Board in December. These are the members of the task force:

The task force, as you may have already heard through other communication channels, is seeking your advice and consultation. Dr. Tasman and his team are interested in knowing what—in addition to the hard work that APA has already done—you think must be done locally and nationally, the resources it will take, and your ideas about strategy, both short and long term. Please e-mail your confidential comments to Dr. Tasman at [email protected] or write to him at this address: Allan Tasman, M.D., Professor and Chair, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, Ky. 40292.

As I wrote in this space before, fighting to protect our patients “is a marathon with many sprints. Specialty by specialty, state by state, year by year, bill by bill, we must advocate for our patients. Every district branch and state association must prepare for a sustained, multifront effort.”

All of this is to underscore that we need your help, input, and support at this critical time. Psychologists are determined, and—for our patients' sake—we must be determined more so.

APA is committed to maintaining and improving the quality of care our patients receive. With your help, the task force—along with the Board, the Assembly, the staff, and indeed, the entire Association—will succeed in positioning APA for victory for our patients in 2005 and beyond. ▪