REQUIRED READING FOR DIVISION 42 LISTSERV MEMBERS
(Div42 Listserv Version)
Note: We realize that this "Welcome Message" is lengthy but it is
critically important for the functioning of this listserv to provide you
with all of the information below.
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WELCOME MESSAGE *** WELCOME MESSAGE *** WELCOME MESSAGE
Version 4.c
Most Recent Update: Wednesday, June 16, 1999
Dear Colleague,
Congratulations and welcome to the Division 42 "Listserv" Forum. If you are
receiving this message, you have successfully subscribed to this electronic
mailing list. Please save and/or print this message for future reference.
Although some parts of it may not seem relevant to you now, you may find
that you have a need for this information at a later time. (Note: The text
of this welcome message combines verbatim wording and information required
by APA plus additions tailored for Division 42 purposes.)
This is a "closed" participatory electronic mailing list for the exclusive
use by Division 42 members. One intent of communications on this listserv
is to foster as much privacy as is practical; however, given the nature of
Internet communications and the many parties involved with a listserv, it is
not possible to guarantee privacy nor confidentiality through this means of
communication. This means that you should exercise judgment and care with
respect to messages you may post. As a practical matter, you should not
express views that would be problematic for you or Division 42 if forwarded
to other listservs or otherwise made public. Listserv messages should not
be forwarded, copied or otherwise transmitted to non-listserv members
without the prior expressed permission of the original message sender.
This listserv functions as a forum for members of the Division of
Independent Practice of APA (Division 42). List membership is reserved for
actual members of Division 42. Additionally, the Division 42 Central
Office, Division 42 and APA legal counsel and APA's Listmaster have access
to all messages posted to this listserv for administrative and legal
functions. No others are authorized by Division 42 to participate as
listserv members.
The listserv's purposes are to facilitate communications among Division
members on topics pertaining to independent practice, to provide information
from Divisional governance, and to promote the general aims of the Division.
The resources (hardware, software, and technical assistance) for this effort
are provided without charge by the American Psychological Association as a
public service.
Division 42 has opted for a single, closed membership listserv instead of a
proliferation of topic oriented listservs. Although there are advantages
and disadvantages to having single versus multiple listservs, the Division
presently believes that, on balance, it is better and more practical to have
one list for reasons of listserv administration and to broadly make
available a variety of ongoing messages and discussions. The closed nature
of the list is meant to promote dialog among the membership without too much
concern that postings to the list will be easily viewable by parties who are
not list members or that outside parties can readily post unsolicited
advertisements however well-intentioned. Automatic reciprocal "cross
postings" from other lists are also discouraged due to the unmoderated
nature of the Division 42 listserv and the burden such would place on the
editorial staff to monitor cross postings.
There are very few rules for members of this list. Fewer restrictions, we
believe, result in the greatest number of innovative contributions.
However, several rules (discussed below) are critically important. If you
subscribed to this forum and especially if you send messages to the forum,
you are agreeing to those rules. These rules, by the way, apply to members
of nearly any non-profit Internet news or interest group.
In the interest of promoting adherence to legal considerations necessary to
assure appropriate list communications and trying to provide the maximum
protection to all list members, the Division 42 Publication and
Communications Committee (which has operational oversight of the Division's
listservs) has designated an appointee whose function is to review postings
to the listserv for adherence to the rules and standards described herein.
If this appointee has a concern about a particular message or messages,
he/she will forward such material to legal counsel for review and possible
disposition. In addition, the Division reserves the right for other
appointees associated with Internet communications to perform a similar
function if need be.
The rules are:
Rule 1: Do not use the forum for illegal purposes, including but not limited
to defamation, violation of intellectual property laws, violation of
antitrust or unfair competition laws or violation of criminal laws.
By way of general guidance, defamation is the publication of false facts or
false implied facts damaging to an individual's, entity's, or product's
reputation. Typically, defamation may be committed even by someone who
believes that he or she is communicating the truth. The defamed individual
may sue anyone who publishes, prints, or repeats the defamation and may
recover damages to compensate for the harm to his or her reputation and to
"punish" the speaker. In some circumstances, "privileges" apply, which may
alter the legal liability.
Intellectual property laws will be violated by misuse of copyrighted or
otherwise protected material without permission of the author(s).
The antitrust laws are a complex body of statutes that prohibit, among other
things, agreements that operate to restrain trade. Agreements among
competitors --such as psychologists in the same geographic market-- to
accept only fees at or above a certain level or to boycott a supplier,
purchaser of services or a competitor are per se unreasonable and therefore
per se illegal. The listserv environment should not be used to promote or
even suggest joint anti-competitive activity. Division 42 and APA have
developed Antitrust Guidelines for Online Discussions Among Psychologists
about Managed Care Issues which are attached to this Welcome Message.
Rule 2: Do not intentionally interfere with or disrupt other forum members,
network services, or network equipment. This includes distribution of
unsolicited advertisement or chain letters, any commercial use, propagation
of computer worms or viruses, and use of the network to make unauthorized
entry to any other machine accessible via the Forum.
Rule 3: Do not use the Forum for commercial purposes. "Commercial" as used
for purposes of evaluating listserv messages means communications whose
primary purpose is to advance the business or financial interests of any
person or entity, or otherwise to promote a financial transaction for the
benefit of the author directly or indirectly. Examples of prohibited
communications include advertisements for products or services, notices
regarding rental of office space, or direct solicitations of listserv
members to purchase products or services.
Examples of messages that may be of financial benefit to listserv members
but are not prohibited because they do not inure to the financial benefit of
the author include news of job listings or position openings, or discussion
of professionally-related products or services where the listserv member
conveying the information is not in the business of selling the products or
services.
Announcements that provide useful professional information to listserv
members but may also have some incidental commercial benefit to the sender
(e.g. an author who is a listserv member merely advising the listserv of
publication of a professional book) typically would not be "commercial" for
purposes of this restriction.
If you break these rules, Division 42 will respond depending on the nature
of the communication with a warning, or where appropriate, by unsubscribing
you from the listserv. These steps are necessary to enforce the rules which
govern the very heart of our arrangements with our service provider--or any
other service provider for the Internet.
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In addition to these rules, various standards have emerged within the
culture of forums as community practices. These standards do not mean
requirements, however. By following these standards and rules, you will
contribute to a climate of trust and comradeship that encourages a friendly,
informed and yet spontaneous discourse.
Standard 1: Please send a message to all of us and introduce yourself. Just
send the message to:
DIV42@LISTS.APA.ORG
Try to keep your messages brief. For your introduction, you might simply
note your name, professional affiliation, where you live, why you joined the
list, and any request or question you might have. Don't be shy!
Standard 2: Please sign each message with your name and be sure to include
your email address. This enables us to communicate with you in response to
your message. Most email software includes a signature option that
automatically generates this information.
Standard 3: Please keep your messages constructive, courteous and brief.
Lengthy messages tend to create listserv grumbling!
Standard 4: If your email software program includes and you utilize an
option that repeats the message to which you are responding, PLEASE do not
repeat any part of the message that is not essential. This will save
considerable space for everyone who receives your message.
Standard 5: Please be supportive of fellow Forum members and show mutual
respect.
Standard 6: As a courtesy to others and to help foster a list climate of
security, please do not forward messages displayed on the Division 42
listserv elsewhere unless you first obtain permission from the originating
message sender.
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===== Sending Messages:
To send general postings to the listserv, do so in the form of an email
message to:
DIV42@LISTS.APA.ORG
To help listserv members sort through incoming list-related mail, please try
and use a message heading to your messages so that topics can be viewed or
deleted more readily, based on user interest. This is known as sending mail
to the list. The format is case insensitive. Your message will be
retransmitted as email to all of the listserv members automatically.
===== Leaving the Listserv:
At some point, you may decide to "unsubscribe" from the forum. If so,
please send a message to the Division's Central Office whose email address
is: (upper or lower case-it doesn't matter)
div42apa@cox.net
and ask that you be "unsubscribed" from this listserv (DIV42).
===== Described below are other useful listserv commands that can be emailed
to:
listserv@LISTS.APA.ORG
(Note: the listserv command address is NOT for sending discussion messages
to the list itself.)
COMMANDS:
help
(sends the standard help file)
rev div42
(to see the email addresses of subscribers on this list)
set div42 nomail
(turns off mail temporarily while remaining subscribed to the list )
set div42 mail
(turns mail back on)
The above commands should go in the body of your message. No other text,
including AutoSignatures, should be in the body of the message. Listserv
commands are not case sensitive. In a separate email from APA's computer
system, new subscribers will also receive a detailed description of commands
that you can use to tailor listserv preferences to your liking.
===== Other
Considerations: If you are not yet familiar with the style and etiquette of
list discourse, you may wish to observe the flow of messages for a while
until you discern the ways and means of list communication. When you respond
to the listserv's address (Div42@lists.apa.org), your message will go to
the entire listserv's subscriber pool. For instance, when you get email
from the listserv and you use the "Reply to Sender" function of your email
software, your message goes first to the listserv computer (at APA), and
from there, it is *rebroadcast* to all subscribers. Everyone on the
listserv will see your message. If, alternately, you wish to send an email
response to an individual and NOT the entire listserv, you will need to use
the email address for that person. This means that you will have to insert
or type in that person's email address in the "TO" dialogue box of your
email software. In such instances, you would NOT want to simply use "Reply
to Sender" if the message came from the listserv because your response would
go to the listserv (which, in a sense, was the "sender").
Also, please, please, please refrain from sending out trial messages that
are akin to "testing 1 2 3" as this only generates a lot of extra email. If
you want to see if your message(s) are getting through to the listserv, you
need only to log off your system, and (after a brief while) log back on
again. You should receive your own message from the listserv just the same
as would all the other subscribers. In general it is a good idea NOT to
respond to test messages unless they are arriving in your email directly
from an individual (as opposed to being sent from the listserv). Responses
to "testing" messages result in a flood of email that can be especially
confusing to newcomers.
Remember, too, that a basic tenet of the listserv is to foster group-based
communication. Therefore, please refrain from posting *very personal*
messages to the listserv that are intended for only one person. Also,
posting messages that have arguably nothing to do with the purpose of the
listserv can result in email clutter that is annoying to a substantive
percentage of listserv members. In addition, if you feel the need to post a
file as an attachment along with your message, keep in mind that many
subscribers absolutely do not want attached files arriving (unsolicited) via
email. This can be especially irksome if the attached file is an
"executable" or "macro" file containing a virus. Obviously, such a viral
scenario is not common but would nonetheless be quite undesirable. Well,
enough of the qualifiers, do's and don'ts, etc...
Archival Listserv Information: The archives for the listserv are located on
the computer server at APA in Washington, DC. The oldest archive dates back
to October 1997. Access to the archives is restricted to members of this
specific listserv, the list owner(s) of the listserv, the Listmaster and the
Technical Services group at APA (for the purposes of maintenance, backups,
and hardware). Only members of the listserv and the listserv owner(s) are
authorized to view the contents of the archives, except in special
circumstances or with the authorization of a listserv owner. "Special
circumstances" is a general term used mostly for unforeseen situations that
might arise. Some of the possible situations include: (1) If the designated
listserv owner(s) is no longer available, or willing to maintain the
listserv (abandonment); (2) If some legal situation concerning the content
of the listserv messages occurs; (3) If a technical problem occurs that may
be due to a message or messages, such as the corruption of a message, or the
viral infection of an attachment to a message; or (4) Unforeseen situations
which may occur, due to the nature of change in the electronic services
industry, which cannot be predicted.
DISCLAIMER:
The information presented and viewed on this listserv may be selective,
rather than exhaustive for some subscribers (depending which messages are
actually viewed). Additionally, medical and psychological information is
constantly changing. Listserv member's views regarding appropriate or
proposed care or treatment are not those of APA or Division 42. Division 42
cannot guarantee the accuracy of information posted to this listserv or that
it is the last word on any particular subject. You also should keep in mind
that, due to your ability to select various messages for review, you may be
accessing only a small portion of the relevant information about a
particular topic. Thus, you should exercise particular care in forming
conclusions based on what you read here.
For all these reasons, NEITHER DIVISION 42 NOR APA MAKES ANY REPRESENTATION
OR WARRANTY ABOUT THE COMPLETENESS, RELIABILITY OR ACCURACY OF INFORMATION
THAT YOU OBTAIN FROM THIS LISTSERV. THE DIVISION AND APA ALSO WILL NOT
ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY OR LIABILITY ARISING FROM ANY ERROR OR OMISSION OR
FROM THE USE OF ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED FROM THIS LISTSERV. ALL CONTENT ON
THIS LISTSERV IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES.
Because of potential liability risk issues for the various parties involved,
caution should be exercised when posting, responding to or otherwise making
use of listserv messages pertaining to diagnosing, recommending treatment or
providing referrals.
For those making use of the listserv for campaigning or endorsing candidates
for positions in the Division's governance, please include the term CAMPAIGN
MESSAGE in the message's subject line. This will make life easier for all
concerned.
Messages on this listserv may contain links to Internet sites which are not
maintained by APA or the Division. Neither APA nor the Division is
responsible for the content of those sites and shall not be liable for any
damages or injury arising from that content. Any links to other sites are
intended as a convenience to the users of this listserv and do not imply
APA's or the Division's endorsement of the linked site nor does the omission
of particular links indicate disapproval by APA or the Division.
Here's to useful and timely communications :) Please remember to save and/or
print this message for future reference, particularly if you are new to
listservs / forums. Again, welcome to the Division 42 Listserv Forum. We
look forward to your introduction. Let us know if you have any questions,
comments or suggestions.
Gordon I. Herz, PhD
Gordon@DrHerz.us
Internet Editor, Division 42
div42apa@cox.net
Division 42 Central Office
List Administrator
============== ATTACHMENT BELOW:
Antitrust Guidelines for Online Discussions Among Psychologists
of Managed Care Issues
For the protection of listserve members and administrators, the
following provides guidance regarding areas of concern under the antitrust
laws that psychologists, like competitors in any other profession or
industry, need to understand in order to protect themselves and avoid
unnecessary legal exposure. The very legitimate concerns psychologists have
over actions by managed care reducing fees and otherwise adversely affecting
services rendered to insureds are important topics to discuss but the
antitrust laws can pose danger for the unwary. We worked hard to avoid
overly broad prohibitions but the grave risk to independent practitioners of
discussions of boycotts of managed care plans or unacceptable fees paid by
specific managed care plans mandates a conservative approach.
By way of background, the federal antitrust agencies have actively
challenged collective refusals to deal with purchasers of professional
services and fee agreements among health care professionals as per se
illegal conduct. The Department of Justice ("DOJ"), for example, filed
criminal charges against a local society of Texas optometrists who had
allegedly met and agreed upon the fees that they would charge insurers for
eye examinations. Recently DOJ sued a group of physicians in New Jersey who
sought to characterize their association as a union, which would have
protected collective bargaining. The physicians' collective efforts to
raise rates are currently under governmental attack as price-fixing. The
Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") similarly filed a civil action against a
group of trial lawyers who had agreed not to take further cases from the
District of Columbia court system until they received an increase in the
fees paid in court-appointed cases. The Supreme Court held that this was a
group boycott that was per se illegal under Section 1 of the Sherman Act.
Thus, these guidelines are intended to protect List participants from
entanglement in defending the validity of decisions regarding managed care.
The List environment is particularly tricky because there is a record of
comments about what may very well be independent decisions by psychologists,
some of who compete with each other and a record of all psychologists who
read those comments. Agreements to take action may be inferred from evidence
of communication among members of a group, such as e-mails. In particular,
use of high-risk concepts like "boycott", by one or two list participants
can taint otherwise innocent independent decisions by other listserve
participants. Thus, the List may link all List participants who take the
same action independently in what could be viewed as a per se illegal
agreement.
The Listserve should serve as an open forum for issues affecting its
participants excluding discussion of fees paid by a specific managed care
company or decisions about whether to participate with given mco. Excluding
those per se areas, there is much that can be discussed and developing a
list of all legitimate topics seems unnecessary, if not impossible. Within
the areas that may be scrutinized under the antitrust laws but are not per
se illegal, the following may be useful as guidelines:
* participants can discuss problems they are experiencing in performing
services in a managed care environment and seek peer advice regarding how to
handle their problems individually. (e.g. informed consent, patient care
issues, abandonment, other ethical dilemmas)
* participants can discuss strategies for educating purchasers of mental
health plans (employers, labor unions, etc.), consumers, government
policy-makers and others about the importance and cost-effectiveness of
mental health benefits.
* participants can discuss strategies for advocating basic rights that
should be guaranteed to every person in need of mental health treatment.
* participants can discuss patient care concerns posed by managed care terms
and conditions.
* participants can engage in discussion of legislative proposals
* a participant can discuss his or her individual decision not to
participate in managed care and the reasons for the decision, after the
decision is made. Where the managed care plan is identified or identifiable
the participant should not in any way invite others to make the same
decision.
Participants should not discuss:
* the desirability of a boycott i.e., a group of psychologists taking a
stand by refusing to participate with a given plan
* an impending decision about whether to remain with a managed care plan
that could be construed as inviting others to take the same action
* the unacceptable fees paid by a specific managed care company
APA does not monitor this List. These guidelines are furnished for
the use of the list administrators in carrying out their duties to assure
that participants follow the conditions under which the List operates.
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