MONTGOMERY — APPA members got Back to Basics with the 2013 Annual Spring Conference in April in Montgomery at the Montgomery Renaissance at the Convention Center. Many special thanks to our outstanding speakers who so graciously gave of their time and talents to give such thoughtful presentations to more than 80 attendees. To download a presentation, right-click on the title and save it to your computer or other device. If you have trouble or questions, please contact [...]
MONTGOMERY – The American Psychiatric Association has announced that 89 APPA members qualified this year for Distinguished Fellowship application. These members were notified by mail, which begins the application process. Distinguished Fellowship is awarded to outstanding psychiatrists who have met strict nomination requirements outlined in the information below. It is the highest membership honor the APA bestows upon members. New Distinguished Fellows are honored each year at the APA Annual meeting during the Convocation of Distinguished [...]
MONTGOMERY – Identifying and treating mental illness and promoting mental health care is complex, but one research group has developed a program that’s been successful enough to earn funding from the National Institutes of Health. And that program will soon be replicated in Alabama. That news was just one part of a keynote speech by Dr. David Satcher, the former U.S. surgeon general who is now the director of the Satcher Health Leadership Institute, established in 2008 [...]
MONTGOMERY — Legislation that would significantly change the delivery of Medicaid — changes aimed at improving outcomes and reducing costs — is headed to Gov. Robert Bentley for signature. The House of Representatives approved legislation Tuesday sponsored by Sen. Greg Reed, R-Jasper, that would divide the state into regions, served by groups called regional care organizations, which would contract with the Medicaid Agency to deliver services to clients. Those organizations would gradually assume the risk of [...]
Just weeks before the long-awaited publication of a new edition of the so-called bible of mental disorders, the federal government’s most prominent psychiatric expert has said the book suffers from a scientific “lack of validity.” The expert, Dr. Thomas R. Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, said in an interview Monday that his goal was to reshape the direction of psychiatric research to focus on biology, genetics and neuroscience so that scientists [...]
ARLINGTON — The American Psychiatric Association has provided sample documentation templates that may help you solve some CPT coding issues in your practice. These documents are being provided in Microsoft Word should you want to modify the form for your own use. The forms will be updated from time to time and will be posted here as an update. You may also go online to http://www.psychiatry.org/cptcodingchanges for more information. Established Patient Initial Evaluation
MONTGOMERY ─ The Office of Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has published its “omnibus” final regulation implementing certain provisions of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act. The Final Rule includes a series of additions and modifications to the existing Privacy and Security Rules promulgated pursuant to the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. The Final Rule also finalizes two interim final rules previously implemented [...]
ARLINGTON — The most recent revision of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) is now available for preorder from American Psychiatric Publishing. DSM-5, which received final approval by APA Board of Trustees on Dec. 1, 2012, is the guidebook used by clinicians and researchers to diagnose and classify mental disorders. It is the first major revision of diagnostic criteria to be published since 1994. Preorders for the book will be fulfilled beginning on the [...]