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APA opening session applauds policy progress, encourages passion in psychiatry
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SAN DIEGO — In the opening session of the American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting, current APA President Maria A. Oquendo, MD, PhD, reflected on her achievements as president, and President-elect Anita Everett, MD, illustrated her goals for her upcoming term.
“This year, the APA developed a variety of partnerships. For example, we’ve partnered with American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists to repair practice guidelines for the treatment of peripartum depression, a key approach to preventing and toward mental health outcomes in children,” Oquendo said. “In fact, our partnerships have not only been in the medical or clinical arena, they have also been in the health policy space.”
Oquendo and other members of the APA worked tirelessly with the House and Senate, some of which involved advocacy, while much was education.
During her term, Oquendo collaborated with other medical organizations to formulate strategies to develop practice guidelines in a more streamlined fashion, participated in congressional briefings on suicide and the opioid epidemic, and advocated for the eventual passage of the 21st Century Cures Act.
APA membership now stands at 37,000 members and has notably increased among women, blacks, Asians, Latinos and international members.
Despite this, barriers remain, according to Oquendo. These include disjointed health delivery and reimbursement systems, limited medical research funding, lack of coordination in Washington, D.C. and state capitols, outdated regulations, workforce shortages, and enduring stigma.
“Of course, we can do better, but we need to act on several fronts. We must continue to work with our governmental partners to ensure increased support for the NIMH, the NIDA and NIAAA,” Oquendo said. “The only way to gain traction in the prevention and treatment of psychiatric and substance use disorders is through research into the neurobiological causes and identification and testing of treatments that work.”
In addition, Oquendo emphasized the importance of training mental health providers, particularly psychiatrists.
“There’s simply not enough of us,” she said.
Oquendo encouraged members to enforce the Mental Health Parity Act and work to expand federal efforts to enforce compliance.
The future
Everett emphasized the importance of aspiration and passion among psychiatrists.
“We are all here today because of something we aspire to do as physicians and leaders in psychiatry,” she said. “Everyone in this room is here because of a relationship they have to psychiatry. Our hopes and goals brought us to this meeting. They will also guide how we spend the next year of our lives and beyond.”
During her term as APA President, Everett hopes to combat the psychiatrist shortage, increase telemedicine practices and collaborative care and improve first-episode psychosis diagnosis and treatment.
“My interactions with the APA for over 30 years as a member have kept me energized and motivated. I aspire to give each of you the same opportunity,” Everett said. “I encourage each of you to take just one more step to deepen your involvement with our APA.”
Recognizing progress
Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., chairman of the House subcommittee on oversight and investigations, took the stage to discuss the progress the mental health community made in passing the 21st Century Cures Act.
“We had a long, long fight to help those 60 million Americans who suffer from mental illness, particularly the 10 million with serious mental illness and 4 million of those who receive no mental health care at all,” Murphy said. “We have a lot to do. But the fact is, now members of Congress are awakened to the idea that dealing with mental illness is an important part of dealing with health. Still on the agenda are parts of the bill that were not quite addressed that we have to address. We didn’t get everything we needed but we needed everything we got.”
Goals include more funding to offset student loans and training for psychiatrists and mental health professionals, investments in telemental health, the 42 CFR part B bill, ensuring authorization of funding appropriated by the 21st Century Cares Act, and conducting reorganization of Medicare and Medicaid to include mental health professionals and improve coordination and integrated care models.
“Will you listen? Will you speak out? I believe the answer is yes,” Murphy said. “We have to do it repeatedly. Not to be silent, not to succumb and just lock our door to our offices, get out there and speak up. We can bring people together to deal with these insidious diseases at this time in ways that have never happened.” – by Amanda Oldt
Reference:
Oquendo M, et al. Opening session. Presented at: American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting; May 20-24, 2017; San Diego.
Disclosure: The researchers reported no relevant financial disclosures.