In Touch With 42
 
Jeffrey E. Barnett, Psy.D.

In Touch With 42
No.8

Dear Division 42 Colleagues and Friends,

I recently had the privilege of appointing two new Division 42 task forces. They are the Forensic Specialty Guidelines Revision Task Force and the APA Recordkeeping Guidelines Revision Task Force. I received lots of valuable input from the Division’s Board and Executive Committee and it proved very helpful in making all these appointments. I hope you will agree that we have two very strong groups to represent us and our interests and to monitor and influence the revision process for these two documents.

The members of the Forensic Specialty Guidelines Revision Task Force are:
Lenore Walker and Jeff Younggren, Co-Chairs
Glenn Ally, Steve Bloomfield, and Marty Williams.

The members of the APA Recordkeeping Guidelines Revision Task Force are:
Melba Vasquez and John Northman, Co-Chairs
Cindy Sturm, Dick Saunders, and David Shapiro.

The mission and charge of each task force is to:

Monitor the process of the revision of the APA Recordkeeping Guidelines (or Forensic Specialty Guidelines) and actively participate in the revision process by representing Division 42's and its members' interests, needs, and concerns as expressed directly to the task force by the Division 42 Executive Committee.

» Keep the Division 42 Executive Committee informed of all ongoing activities, negotiations, and efforts to participate in, and influence, the revision process.

» Keep the Division 42 Executive Committee informed of all changes in the process by any involved APA entities and of all ongoing developments and new drafts of the proposed revised guidelines.

» Keep Division 42's members updated periodically through articles in the IP and on the Division 42 website, as well as via the Division 42 listserv as is deemed appropriate and in a way that wouldn't jeopardize any ongoing negotiations.

An initial $200 funding for each task force has been provided to cover conference calls. The possibility of additional funding for attendance of a liaison to attend meetings associated with this work will be considered after a specific request is submitted to the Division 42 Executive Committee, however, preference will be given to those already planning to attend meetings if possible.

Also, as you may already know, APA President, Ron Levant, has appointed a task force on Evidence-Based Practice. This group has developed a proposed APA Policy Statement and Position Paper on Evidence-Based Practice. They may be viewed at http://forms.apa.org/members/ebp . Please visit this site, read the documents, and provide your comments. It is important that as practitioners we actively participate in and influence this process. I did not appoint a separate Division 42 task force to monitor the work of this group. We are already very well served by several members of that group who were appointed by Ron Levant (one of our members) and who are current and former members of our Division 42 governance. These members are Jean Carter, Carol Goodheart, and Jo Johnson.


Division 42 member, Ken Pope, shares the following information from the article
"Payment-Related Lawsuits Can Often Be Averted" by Eve Bender in the American Psychiatric Association's *Psychiatric News* (vol., #2). Several suggestions for addressing overdue bills and collections issues are provided. They appear to be equally of value for psychologists as well. They include:

1) Payment policies and procedures regarding collections should be given to all patients during the first treatment session.

2) Outstanding balances should be addressed as soon as they arise.

3) The decision to pursue an outstanding balance must be made by the psychiatrist who treated the patient and never a member of the office staff or a billing agency contracted by the psychiatrist to collect payments.

4) When disclosing information to a collection agency, the patient's confidentiality must be first and foremost in the psychiatrist's mind. Psychiatrists should disclose only the minimum amount of information necessary to collect in order to avoid breaching a patient's confidentiality.

5) Covered providers under the privacy rule of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act should have business-associate agreements in place with collections agencies or attorneys who are hired to collect on outstanding bills. The American Hospital Association's 2003 guidelines, "Hospital Billing and Collection Practices," are posted online at www.hospitalconnect.com/aha/key_issues/bcp/content/guidelinesfinalweb.pdf.


Psychologists are also referred to their relevant state laws that may impact how collections are handled. In addition we should each be familiar with the sections of the APA Ethics Code relevant to fees, financial arrangements, and collections. These include Standards 3.10 Informed Consent, 4.10 Maintaining Confidentiality, 4.02 Discussing the Limits of Confidentiality, 4.05 Disclosures, 6.03 Withholding Records for Nonpayment, and 6.04 Fees and Financial Arrangements.


Divisions 22 (Rehabilitation Psychology) and 42 (Independent Practice) have created a joint special interest group for psychologists interested in the topic of disability evaluations. This group is for practitioners who perform disability evaluations, review these evaluations or perform disability determination reviews. Topics of mutual interest would include: criteria for adequate psychological assessment, functional assessment, cultural factors, vendor networks, job accommodation, ethical considerations, use of corroborating information, credentialing and proposed Social Security program changes.

If interested, please contact:

Ray Conroe, PhD, at ray.conroe@comcast.net

Alan D Entin, PhD, ABPP, at adentin@earthlink.net or 804.358.7687(eve)

David Niemeier, PhD, at davepsy@earthlink.net or 804.288.1464

Ellen Snoxell, PhD, ABPP, at ellen.snoxell@assurant.com or 800.325.8385, x2960


Here’s a free link that's through the APA that provides the latest news on recently released research: http://www.psycport.com/ and a link on the APA website on finding tests: http://www.apa.org/science/faq-findtests.html#findinfo.

Best,
Jeff
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