Federal legislation and school psychology: Impact and implication.

Reviews recent federal legislation and regulation that is relevant to the profession of school psychology. The impact of federal legislation on school psychology is often indirect, because legislation that affects the profession is directed toward providing services for handicapped persons and protecting their rights, and school psychology is inextricably tied to special education. Cooperation is called for between professionals in the educational system in order to meet the needs of people who require special services. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Early childhood education and intervention: Establishing an American tradition.

Traces the influence of recent social, political, and economic forces on the evolution of American early childhood education. Since the learning experiences of young children affect development in major domains of their behavior, it is no surprise that contemporary early education practices have been shaped by the knowledge base of developmental psychology. Project Head Start, a massive federal social experiment, is represented as a fertile spawning ground for alternative models of early intervention, psychoeducational remediation, and preschool education. Psychologists are urged to continue their participation in the early education enterprise. The author shares some reflections that might give direction to these efforts. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Veterans Administration psychology: A professional challenge for the 1980s.

Discusses the role that psychology has played in the Veterans Administration (VA) since the 1940's, a role that has increased in prominence over the years. Psychologists in the VA's Department of Medicine and Surgery have been involved in the delivery of health and mental health care services, research efforts, and training programs for psychology interns. It is noted that despite psychology's long-standing involvement in the VA, concerns have arisen recently regarding the status of psychology within the VA. Events contributing to these concerns involve decreased administrative visibility, attempts to exclude psychologists from medical staff membership, threats of psychology staff reductions, and proposals to place psychologist practitioners under the direction of physicians. Psychology's legislative and regulatory efforts to address these concerns are discussed. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Localized mucosal involvement and severe pulmonary involvement in a young patient with paraneoplastic pemphigus associated with Castleman''s tumour

OBJECTIVES: This study examined the impact of state legislation on mammography quality and access in Michigan. METHODS: The impact of state legislation was analyzed with respect to utilization, numbers of machines and facilities, and image quality. RESULTS: The legislation had a positive effect on image quality improvement, had no impact on utilization by women aged 50 years and above, and resulted in few facility closures. CONCLUSIONS: Michigan's legislative intervention appears to have had a positive effect on efforts to improve mammography quality assurance with implications for other federal and state efforts to achieve quality assurance in health care delivery.     

Model act for state licensure of psychologists.

As APA policy, the Model Act for State Licensure of Psychologists serves as a prototype for drafting state legislation regulating the practice of psychology. State legislatures are encouraged to use the language of this document and the policies that it espouses as the model for their own state licensure laws. Inevitably each state law will reflect compromises and changes particular to that state, but the APA Model Act is meant to serve as a guide for those involved in the drafting process. State licensing boards must develop their own rules and regulations to supplement the legislation proposed here. This document also serves to educate legislatures about psychology training and practice and serves to synthesize APA policies that bear on the education, training, and practice of professional psychology. Each section of the proposed Model Act is introduced by commentary, the purpose of which is to explain the rationale for the proposed section that follows. To differentiate between the commentary and the proposed statutory language, the latter is italicized. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Education reform in the United States: National policy in support of local efforts for school improvement.

School reform (SR) must be systemic, coherent, and expect accountability for student progress. SR must ensure that all of its component parts are in alignment. Professionals involved in education (ED) must work collaboratively in new ways to effect reform. Psychologists are key to such collaboration. Two decades of SR have taught us lessons that lead to changes in the 30-yr-old legislation that authorizes the investments of federal funds in programs to help elementary and secondary school students achieve. Title I, the centerpiece of the Elementary and Secondary ED Act of 1965, as amended by the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994, is revamped to incorporate the lessons of local and state efforts to improve their schools. In addition, a movement toward establishing national goals of what students are expected to learn and be able to do at certain times in their educational development resulted in enactment of the Goals 2000: Educate America Act (1994). The US Department of ED has identified 5 themes for comprehensive ED improvement to be successful. It is the responsibility of all professionals involved in the educational process to commit themselves to be a part of, and a catalyst for, change to move our schools to ultimately provide a high-quality ED for all children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The evolution of health care: Implications for the training and careers of psychologists.

Congress failed to pass legislation in 1994, but the general principles guiding reform are clearly embedded in state-level legislation and the inexorable movement toward managed care in the private employer–insurer markets. These principles, legislated by statute or realized incrementally through private market reforms, present challenges and opportunities to psychology as a science and a profession. Psychologists must significantly modify the way they currently work, and university-based training programs must modify the way they educate future psychologists. The issues go beyond the dominant concern with benefit plan coverage and professional prerogatives and affect the very organizational structures in which psychologists work and the ways they get paid. Psychologists now share with every health-related science and profession the public's demand for research-based evidence of cost-effective solutions to individual and community-wide health problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychiatry in crisis

Psychiatry today faces sociopolitical, economic, and philosophical pressures that threaten its existence as a valued medical specialty. Recent legislation that decreases the numbers of foreign medical graduates eligible to practice in the United States, increases the numbers of community mental health centers and types of services they offer, and limits federal support of psychiatric education will affect the future of psychiatry as a profession and discipline. Forthcoming legislation and federal health policies will be related to the ability of the profession to demonstrate its unique role in the provision of mental health and health services. The authors offer suggestions for the education of the American public regarding the important role of psychiatry in America's health and mental health care system.     

A perspective on the nation's antitrust policies: Implications for psychologists.

In response to significant change in the health care market, federal antitrust agencies recently examined their past policies and future directions for antitrust law enforcement in the health care industry. This article reviews how the federal antitrust laws have been used to both aid and restrict the practice of psychology, psychologists' dealings with managed care, and the limits of antitrust law enforcement efforts. Finally, we argue that narrowly crafted antitrust reform would provide practicing psychologists and other health professionals with some degree of countervailing bargaining power in their negotiations with managed care. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Political aspects of peer review.

Discusses professional psychology's increasing recognition in federal health-care legislation. Whether psychology is eventually included in a national health insurance bill will be primarily determined by political considerations, including psychology's relationship with organized medicine, its credibility within the federal bureaucracy, and its performance in the development of standards for care and assurance of quality. It is concluded that psychology's success in developing a workable system of quality assurance through peer review may be the profession's most important asset in determining its role in future legislation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Investing in our future: Unrealized opportunities for funding graduate psychology training.

Purpose: Changes in the health care environment have brought challenges and opportunities to the field of psychology. Practitioners have been successful in modifying service models to absorb losses of financial support for behavioral health care, due to managed care and public policy changes, while simultaneously managing the growing need for these services. However, in this reactive mode of responding to evolutions in the health care system, the field of psychology has at times lost sight of the long-term vision required to promote psychology's inclusion in the health care system of the future. In particular, a focus on training psychologists and ensuring the availability of funding to support these activities must be a priority in planning for the future. This article provides an overview of federal programs that currently offer funding for psychology training, as well as other opportunities for federal funding that have been unrealized. Details regarding advocacy efforts that were required to secure available sources of funding are given, followed by consideration of strategies for taking advantage of existing resources and prioritizing advocacy for additional funding. Conclusion: Funding for psychology training provides an avenue for increasing the number of well-trained psychologists who can serve patients' mental and behavioral health needs and thereby improve health outcomes. Moreover, capitalizing on available funding opportunities for psychology training and promoting efforts to expand these opportunities will help ensure that the field of psychology is positioned to remain an important contributor to the health care system of the future. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The future of addictive behaviors: The next ten years.

Argues that psychology as a discipline has not been in the forefront in the prevention and treatment of addictive behaviors and that this must change. Psychologists must help shape public opinion to be actively opposed to self-indulgence so that society is not the helpless victim of alcohol and narcotics. As a social organism, society has a key role to play in shaping human behavior for personal and public good. The author also critiques the American Psychological Association's efforts to deal with addictive behaviors. (0 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rehabilitation psychology practice, ethics, and a changing health care environment.

Rapid changes in the health care environment have brought about ethical and professional challenges for rehabilitation and rehabilitation psychology. The response of rehabilitation psychologists to the threats and opportunities of these challenges will have an impact on the welfare of persons with disabilities and the future of the profession. Managed care organizations have focused their efforts on the management of acute illness. Ethical concerns are being raised about patient access to care, self-determination, confidentiality, provider accountability, and marketing in managed care systems. Rehabilitation psychologists' skills in program development and outcome evaluation place them in a key position to influence the changes in the health care environment. To be effectual, however, fundamental changes must be made in research psychology practice, education and training, research focus, and professional activities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Protecting privacy to improve health care

No comprehensive federal law now protects the privacy of people's medical records. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 mandates that if Congress fails to enact such legislation by August 1999, the secretary of health and human services must promulgate regulations. This paper argues that health privacy legislation is necessary both to improve patient care and to enhance the reliability of the health information used for research and public health initiatives. Within this framework I review pending federal health privacy legislation and make recommendations for moving forward.     

Medicaid's not-so-"quiet revolution": A call to action for psychologists.

Psychologists are research-based health care providers with much to offer to the development of programs for people with disabilities and chronic illnesses. An exemplar for psychologists' involvement in health care planning is Health Care Options Plus (HCO+), a prevention-oriented, Medicaid-funded program for people with disabilities. Contributions such as HCO+ will make a positive impact on the future of professional psychology and health care delivery models for people with disabilities. Psychologists must recognize the importance of Medicaid as well as their own potential for influencing public and private health care sectors in order to thrive in the current health care climate. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology and public policy in the "health care revolution."

In this article we give a brief overview of the rapid changes taking place in health care delivery in this country, focusing particularly on cost-containment efforts, organizational restructuring of the medical-industrial complex, and this decade's procompetitive market. Psychologists need to be aware of current policy trends and potential future changes in health and to consider alternative roles in emerging health care systems. Further, mental health policy is heavily influenced by the form and context of health policy. We argue that a top-down analysis of resource allocation is necessary for responsible public policy in health and mental health care. We discuss opportunities and challenges for psychology within this framework in service, research, and education. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology can be indispensable to health care reform and the patient-centered medical home.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) was passed into legislation in March 2010, making health care reform a reality. Perhaps the most well-developed model of primary care that aligns with the PPACA's agenda is the patient-centered medical home (PCMH). Integrated care, as defined by collaborative care between mental health and primary care providers and systems, will undoubtedly play a critical role in the success of the PCMH. The role of psychology and integrated care in the PCMH as well as training implications for psychologists are discussed. This article is intended to challenge our discipline to embrace psychology as a health care profession that must prepare for and solidify its added value in the health care delivery models of the future. Requisite skill sets for primary care psychologists and existing training opportunities are presented. Finally, possible mechanisms for training psychologists in integrated care and the professional roles primary care psychologists can expect to fill are proposed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Federal legislation recognizing psychology.

Contends that policymakers often are unfamiliar with psychology as a discipline and as a profession, and they lack knowledge of the important contributions psychologists or behavioral experts can make to specific problem areas. Hence, specific reference to psychology or psychological expertise may not appear in various federal statutes, and this limits the possibility of psychology contributing to needed solutions to national problems. The political process of policy formation is discussed, and the explicit federal recognition of psychology within enacted legislation is examined. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Physician domination in the health care industry: The pursuit of antitrust redress.

Argues that the exclusion of qualified practitioners from the medical staffs of hospitals and the exclusion of psychological services from federal and commercial health care programs threaten the independent and autonomous practice of psychology in any national health insurance program. If psychological services are to be made available to consumers through such a program, psychologists must act now to preserve their status as independent professionals. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fine needle capillary cytology versus fine needle aspiration cytology--a comparison of quality between puncture techniques in the ENT area

In examining ways to improve female health care access and utilization, the magnitude of health problems must be examined before the design of solutions. Two types of barriers interfere with health care: attitudinal barriers blocking motivation to seek health care services and organizational barriers which block actual use of needed services. The major health problems of women in the United States are heart disease, cancer, stroke, lung-related diseases, intentional injuries, diabetes and HIV/AIDS. Public health has had a greater impact than high technology on the health of our nation. Balancing health care reform, changes in legislation and funding for medical education should help the United States be responsive to the challenge to move from substandard health for many women to superlative health care for all women and their family members.