RxP: A Chronology

  • 1984: At the Hawaii Psychological Association Convention, Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, challenges psychology to seek prescriptive authority (RxP) as a way to address the needs of underserved populations.
  • 1985: Hawaii Psychological Association introduces the first bill seeking to grant prescriptive authority for psychologists.
  • August 1989: APA staff joins the Department of Defense Blue Ribbon Panel to create the curricula for the Psychopharmacology Demonstration Project (PDP).
  • 1991: The Department of Defense PDP begins training two Navy psychologists.
  • August 1995: The APA Council of Representatives adopts a resolution on prescription privileges for appropriately trained psychologists. The resolution reaffirms that physical interventions are part of the practice of psychology and supports the APA seeking prescription privileges for psychologists.
  • August 1996: The APA Council of Representatives approves the Model Legislation for Prescriptive Authority and the Recommended Postdoctoral Training in Psychopharmacology for Prescription Privileges as APA policy.
  • June 1997: The fourth and final PDP class graduates. By the conclusion of the PDP, it has successfully trained 10 military psychologists to prescribe psychoactive medications.
  • December 1999: The territory of Guam, overriding a gubernatorial veto, passes the Collaborative Practices Act, granting psychologists limited prescriptive authority.
  • September 2000: The APA College of Professional Psychology’s Psychopharmacology Examination for Psychologists (PEP) becomes available for states and provinces to use in granting prescriptive authority to psychologists.
  • March 6, 2002: In New Mexico, Gov. Gary Johnson signs into law a bill that grants prescriptive authority to psychologists who have met certain educational and training requirements.
  • May 6, 2004: Louisiana’s Gov. Katherine Blanco signs the RxP bill into law, granting appropriately trained medical psychologists to prescribe psychotropic medications and emphasizing a collaborative relationship between prescribing psychologists and patients’ primary care physicians.
  • 2007: The Hawaiian legislature passes an RxP bill. Unfortunately the bill was ultimately vetoed by Gov. Linda Lingle on July 10, 2007, and the legislature was unable to override the veto.
  • 2010: On Feb. 24, the Oregon Legislature passes RxP legislation. The bill is subsequently vetoed by Gov. Ted Kulongoski on April 8.
  • June 25, 2014: Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signs the prescriptive authority bill into law, authorizing licensed Illinois psychologists who have additional specialized training in psychopharmacology to prescribe certain medications for the treatment of mental health disorders. This makes Illinois the third state to grant prescriptive authority for properly trained psychologists.
  • 2016: Iowa passes legislation granting licensed psychologists who are trained in psychopharmacology with prescriptive authority.
  • 2017: Idaho becomes the 5th state to enact RxP legislation with the signing of HB 212 into law on April 4.
Date created: 2014