xxAACP Newsletter, Volume 15, Number 2, Spring 2001

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The AACP Winter Board meeting took place March 10, 2001 during the inspirational 5th Annual All-Ohio Institute which was attended by over 420 individuals, primarily from Ohio. The meeting was also attended by Ohio Congressmen Ted Strickland and Sherrod Brown, and the Director of the Ohio Mental Health Department Michael Hogan. Congratulations and thanks to Robert Ronis, MD who organizes this terrific conference annually.

Doctor Goisman reviewed the treasury. The group reviewed the initial response to restructuring of dues and discussed ways to track money available over several years due to the multi-year membership. It was recommended that the dues in excess of one year be put in a CD for the period of time the membership payment reflects.

Doctor Feldman welcomed Pedro Delgado, MD, Chair of the Case Western Reserve Department of Psychiatry, and President-elect of the American Society for Hispanic Psychiatry. He stated that as president of the ASHP his goals will be to increase focus on Hispanic psychiatrists in the US, and to increase membership in the organization. He also identified an interest in working on policy agendas, services research, cross cultural mental health, imaging, and biologically oriented treatment. He expressed interest in working collaboratively with the AACP, and the group discussed the shared goals of the two organizations.

• APA Meeting, the Board will meet Saturday and Sunday May 4-5.

• IPS Meeting, the Board will meet starting at noon on Sunday, October 14 and half day on Monday, October 15.

• Winter 2002 Meeting will be held in Tucson, Arizona with Mario Cruz, MD taking the lead in organizing the meeting. Doctor Cruz will explore the possiblity of holding the meeting in conjunction with the Arizona State Psychiatric Association.

Rick Seeger of Deerfield attended the meeting to report on activity with LOCUS. He reported a significant increase in national interest and in the number of programs using LOCUS. Public systems and midsize managed care organizations are showing interest, which in turn is getting providers interested. He reported that the Olmstead ruling increased demand for LOCUS because LOCUS provides a standard which will meet requirements of the ruling. In turn there has been increased interest in CALOCUS. Deerfield now has increased staff involved in marketing and technical work. He projected that as much as $20,000 may be generated for the AACP/AACAP by this increased business. Web-linked technology should be available by the end of the summer. The company is looking at adapting the program for palm pilot and scanning technologies. At this time LOCUS is not used much to measur outcomes, but there are future plans to validate it against an accepted outcomes instrument.

NASMHPD agreement- The medical directors committee of the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD) expressed interest in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the AACP to coordinate policies. There was a discussion of AACP’s relationship with NASMHPD. Doctor Huffine presented the draft agreement between NASMHPD and AACP. The Board discussed this proposal, felt that the styles of the two organizations are complementary, and voted to endorse the MOU.

Managing pharmacy costs in public mental health systems: Doctor Minkoff presented a document on cost effective pharmacy criteria in public care to be submitted to NASMHPD at their request. This document was intended as a private summary of recommendations from the Board, rather than an official position statement. Several revisions wer suggested to Doctor Minkoff. The group discussed the possibility of developing a tool kit for membership related to methods of making medications available in a cost-effective way.

Bridging the Gap: Doctor Primm reported on this educational initiative being piloted in the Baltimore-Washington area. The initiative is designed to address mental health, physical health and cultural issues. The group plans to disseminate the education program to health providers, legislators, educators and the general community. Three focus groups were held in the fall and winter with unanimous positive response to the idea. The project has already received the endorsement of multiple local and national organizations. Pfizer is providing support at least through the initial stages of the project. An additional goal of the project is to develop collaboration between primary care physicians and psychiatrists, including the development of a listserve uniting physical and mental health providers. The AACP expressed their support of this project.

Psychologists’ prescribing privileges: There was a brief recap of the recent discussion on the listserve of psychologists prescribing medications. There was discussion as to the role of the AACP regarding this issue, about which there were mixed opinions. Although the APA is taking hold of this issue, some members felt that the AACP may have a broader perspective, and clearer focus on the needs of patients. Dr. Osher suggested that the group try to differentiate the public health aspects of the issue from guild issues. Many members felt that the real issue is access to care and that the AACP could develop a statement addressing ways of expanding access to psychopharmacologic care. A subcommittee of the Healthcare Services Committee was appointed that will address access to care issues, including the issue of psychologists’ prescribing privileges.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) funding: BMS has been a generous supporter of the AACP. Dr. Feldman announced that Bill French, who has been the primary contact with the AACP, recently retired and that there has been some reorganization at BMS. As part of this reorganization, the company is evaluating their relationships with organizations. BMS funding of the AACP will likely be decreased. The group discussed priorities for funding and other possible sources of financial support.

Bylaws: Doctor Crocker, Chair of the committee, reported that there are a number of items in the bylaws that need to be addressed or revised. These issues include: membership processing; external financial audits to be done at the end of each Treasurer’s term; an additional Board position for an Early Career Psychiatrist; the timing for new Board members to take their positions on the Board; and disposition of assets in the event of the dissolution of the organization. Doctor Crocker reported that revisions will be written and presented for review and approval by the Board and the general membership.

Diversity: The Committee discussed the use of the listserve. The Committee will review the products of other committees for cultural diversity issues. The Committee discussed membership. A list is currently being developed for the annual honorary memberships. The group also addressed the the fact that the APA Office of Minority Affairs is not fully funded at this time due to general cost cutting measures by the APA. The committee will draft a letteron this topic to send to the APA.

Awards: The Board discussed and voted on the nominations for the AACP awards to be presented at the 2001 APA meeting in the categories of physician and non-physician. In addition, the motion was made and passed to create a special recognition award which will also be presented at the May meeting.

Program: Doctor Pollack reported that the official AACP Symposium, "The Use of Force In Psychiatry" is scheduled for the May Meeting. CMHS provided money to support this program. The symposium will be a two-part presentation from 2-5pm on May 8-9.

Communication/Publications: Doctor Thompson discussed the web site and listserve. The web site has had 23,000 hits this year from 20 different countries. A listserve on international issues has been created with about 30 people participating so far. The newsletter is now being posted to the website in advance of mailing. Doctor Cutler reported that the Community Mental Health journal is also working on posting articles on the web site. The editors of both the journal and the newsletter have been discussing changes in design. There were some mixed feelings about the necessity for this. Possibilities for graphic design consultation will be explored. Doctor Oudens discussed the distribution of the newsletter. Currently 650 newsletters are sent to our membership and 750 are sent to members of other organizations. This will be reviewed with the outside agencies to see if they wish to continue receiving the newsletter.

Nominations: Doctor Huffine, Chair of the nominating committee, reported that Clifton Tennison will be leaving his position as representative to the APA Assembly. A replacement will be needed to represent AACP at the Assembly Meetings. Possible candidates were discussed. The appointment of an early career psychiatrist for the additional Representative at Large position was referred to the nominating committee.

Child and Adolescent: Doctor Pumariega reported that the CALOCUS evaluation is almost completed and data is to be analyzed. The data should be ready by the June Meeting of the Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists. The Academy will endorse the instrument after reviewing the validity and reliability studies. Proceeds from CALOCUS will be shared with the Academy.

Doctors Huffine, Carter and Pumariega will begin work on initial guidelines for Child and Adolescent psychiatrists working in community settings.

Training: The training committee has collected a number of community psychiatry training curricula for review. These sample training curricula will be sent out on the training network listserv then posted on the website. Doctor Gibson suggested developing a tool to track community psychiatry training and its impact. Queries could be conducted with graduates or program directors.

Doctor Goisman reported that there is concern about the potential loss of funding from BMS to support the training directors’ luncheon at the IPS Meeting. The Committee will look for alternative funding sources.

Health Services Committee: Doctor Minkoff reported that there are a number of different projects in committee. The first is the position paper on housing options. After review, Doctor Minkoff will make the changes and re-circulate the draft at the May Meeting. Doctor Huffine will take over the restraint and seclusion piece for adults and children. The committee is also initiating a project on flexible outpatient treatment models for working with difficult to engage individuals.

Quality Management Subcommittee: Doctor Sowers reviewed the document on managing transition between levels of care. Several revisions were recommended. Doctor Sowers will revise this document and present it at the May Meeting. One additional issue raised in relation to transitions in care was the loss of Medicaid for individuals who are in institutions greater than 30 days.

Outpatient Commitment Subcommittee: Doctor Cruz reviewed the latest draft of the document. The document will be further revised and re-circulated prior to the May Meeting.

LOCUS: Doctor Sowers noted the difficulty of continuing research due to limited resources. He reviewed the original contractual agreement specifying that half of the income from LOCUS be held in reserve for further development. The Board voted that proposals for LOCUS research be submitted to the Research Committee. The Research Committee will develop a process to determine the merit of those proposals and will make recommendations to the Board with regard to funding of submitted proposals. Doctor Sowers also expressed the hope of obtaining grant money to continue research. Doctors Pumariega and Feldman will write a letter to CMHS on behalf of the AACP.

Membership: Doctor Primm reported that the current membership is 640. There were 16 new members at the IPS Meeting. The Membership Committee will be working on recruiting the new honorary diversity members. Confusion about the new dues structure, and group memberships was addressed and clarified.

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