News, events, and webinars

• The CMS Physician Fee Schedule: Submit comments, protect access, improve practice
  Psychologists can help protect and improve patient access to critical behavioral health services in Medicare and beyond
• APA Services increases funding for SPTA grants
  These grants aim to prioritize initiatives that enhance population health and promote equitable access to care
• Utah passes prescriptive authority for psychologists
  Utah has passed a law allowing prescriptive authority, but there are still issues to be worked out
• APA featured in U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Report to Congress
  USPSTF highlighted APA’s work to benefit society and improve lives via a population health approach
• National Academies seeking input on strategies to improve access to behavioral health care services
  Give the National Academies your input on factors affecting participation in Medicare, Medicaid, and Marketplace plans
• What psychologists need to know about Health Information Exchanges
  Health Information Exchanges allow secure sharing of medical information and are more frequently including behavioral health providers
• Big wins for psychology in Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 2023 Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule
  Important news for psychologists about proposed changes in Medicare for 2024
• Population health and psychology’s role
  From data collection to smoking cessation, here are ways that psychologists can advance population health
• APA advocates for value-based payment models
  As a member of the Primary Care Collaborative, APA has joined other health care providers and groups to promote integrated behavioral health
• What psychologists should know about 988
  Psychologists can share the new crisis lifeline number with patients and advocate for increased funding to help mental health professionals meet the demand for help
• Mental health crisis: CMS issues proposals to help psychologists meet the demand
  The 2023 Physician Fee Schedule proposed rule, released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, includes an expansion of telehealth services, new billing codes, and changes to psychologist supervision
• Letter: Deceptive and misleading use of psychologist provider names (PDF, 1MB)
• Frequently asked questions about abortion laws and psychology practice
• APA takes action after federal appeals court overturns groundbreaking Wit decision
  APA immediately joins other stakeholders calling for reconsideration
• Medicare Advantage plans: What psychologists need to know
  Do you have patients who are enrolled in Medicare Advantage, also known as Medicare Part C? Here’s what you need to know about providing and getting reimbursed for services under these plans
• Understanding the No Surprises Act: How to provide estimates for your services
  Guidance and resources on when and how to provide good faith estimates required by the No Surprises Act
• Basic steps for starting your good faith estimate compliance
  Tips to help you start complying with the No Surprises Act good faith estimate requirement
• FAQs on the No Surprises Act and good faith estimates
  Answers to questions APA has received concerning the No Surprises Act and its new requirement for providers to furnish a good faith estimate of expected costs to patients
• New billing disclosure requirements take effect in 2022
  Psychologists will need to provide estimated costs of services before starting treatment
• HIPAA Privacy Rule: Proposed changes could impact practitioners
  APA submits comments on a Health and Human Services proposal that could affect patient privacy and create more issues for psychologists
• APA sharpens focus on practice innovation, digital therapeutics
  Newly formed Office of Health Care Innovation will focus on using measurement-based care and technology to improve service delivery
• How to make remote payments safer
  With the growth of telehealth practice, more providers are using online payment services or mobile apps to collect payments from patients. Consider these factors before choosing an electronic payment processor for your practice
• Optum adopts APA’s guide on billing for testing services
  APA’s guide helps payers develop policies for billing and coding psychological and neuropsychological testing
• How to talk to your patients about firearm safety
  Making guns less accessible is a key step in suicide prevention
• Practice guidelines: What’s been done and what’s coming
  Here’s the latest news on APA’s clinical practice guidelines, professional practice guidelines, evidence-based practice, and how you can get involved
• Medicare proposals for 2021: Psychologists’ payments impacted
  APA asks the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to preserve and increase payments for psychological services
• New codes to report cognitive function intervention services
  As of Jan. 1, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ new codes are in effect
• Mental and Behavioral Health Registry: Participating in the Merit-based Incentive Payment System

• New APA partnership with the FDA brings psychology expertise to digital health technology development and policy
• Helping your patients overcome vaccine hesitancy
• How APA is helping COVID’s overlooked populations
• Five tips for balancing parenting and virtual practice
• Treating people of color: Three essential ways to prepare
• How APA Services is working for you during the COVID-19 crisis
• COVID-19: What the Ethics Code says about reopening your practice now
• Providing psychodynamic care during COVID-19
• Providing relationship-oriented psychotherapy during COVID-19
• Treating anxiety and stress in front-line workers: A step-by-step CBT guide
• Treating front-line workers: A step-by-step guide
• COVID-19: When is it OK to resume in-person services?
• Answers to practicing psychologists’ latest questions about providing telehealth services
• Guidance on psychological assessment and management of chronic pain during the COVID-19 crisis
• Pain management in a crisis
• How COVID-19 may affect presurgical psychological evaluations
• Is your patient’s anxiety or depression related to COVID-19?
• Four pieces of ethical advice for practitioners during COVID-19
• FAQs practicing psychologists have about COVID-19
• Self-care advice for health-care providers during COVID-19
• What the COVID-19 telehealth waiver means for psychology practitioners
• How to prepare your office for telehealth
• Notification of enforcement discretion for telehealth remote communications during the COVID-19 nationwide public health emergency
• COVID-19: Occupational licensing during public emergencies
• Medicare telemedicine health care provider fact sheet
• Licensure-related matters and COVID-19
• Want more info on telepsychology?
• FAQs: Psychology training and COVID-19
• Informed consent checklist for telepsychological services
• COVID-19 and psychology services: How to protect your patients and your practice
• APA COVID-19 resources

Throughout the year, APA Services, Inc. hosts regular webinars on billing and reimbursement, legal issues and other topics of interest to practicing psychologists. See below for links to register for upcoming webinars or to view a selection of past programs including access to the transcripts and slides.

2019

November

• Getting Reimbursed: Updates on Billing and Documentation for Health Behavior Assessment & Intervention (HBAI) Services in 2020
  Join psychology and coding experts for a series of pre-recorded mini-webinars to learn about the new Health Behavior Assessment and Intervention (HBAI) codes that go into effect on January 1, 2020. These recordings cover the new CPT© codes and how to use them, clinical case examples, coding guidelines, payment policies, and reimbursement values.
• Exploring the new APA Clinical Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Depression Across Three Age Cohorts
  Join experts for a 75-minute webinar that takes an in-depth look at the recommendations for each of the three age groups: children and adolescents, adults, and older adults. Presenters will discuss the process for developing the guideline and will answer frequently asked questions about what the guideline does and doesn’t cover.

September

• 2019 MIPS Reporting: Utilizing the Mental and Behavioral Health Registry (MBHR) to Boost Quality and Reimbursement
  Do you see or are you considering seeing Medicare patients? Are you interested in learning if you are eligible to increase your reimbursements, and if so, how to maximize impact and improve patient care? Join psychologists and MIPS reporting experts for a one-hour webinar to learn about an online tool that will allow practitioners to track quality outcomes and report MIPS from one centralized location.

July

• The Farmer Mental Health Crisis: Understanding A Vulnerable Population
  A one-hour webinar from APA and Farm Aid explains the mental health crisis among U.S. farmers and how psychologists can help. Experts will talk about farmers’ unique stressors and ways to connect with the farming community.

May

• Getting reimbursed: A series of mini webinars on the new testing codes
  Join psychology and legal experts for a series of prerecorded mini-webinars to learn about updates to the psychological and neuropsychological testing codes that went into effect on January 1, 2019. These recordings cover an update on APA’s advocacy efforts, information on billing and documentation processes, expanded clinical case examples, and expert responses to your questions regarding the new testing codes.

January

• 2019 MIPS Reporting: Everything You Want to Know about Medicare, Quality Reporting, and the Mental and Behavioral Health Registry (MBHR)
  Vaile Wright, PhD, and Diane Pedulla, JD, discussed CMS’s 2019 changes to the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) and the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), and introduced a new tool that will allow practitioners to track quality outcomes and report MIPS from a centralized location.

2018

April

• Transforming Your Practice: Expanding Your Skills to Work in New Settings
  Doug Tynan, PhD, ABPP, and Christopher Nettles, PhD, present about the growing movement toward integrated health care and the opportunities available for psychologists.

May

• Telepsychology & the Psychology lnterjurisdictional Compact (PSYPACT)
  Deborah C. Baker, JD, and Alex M. Siegel, JD, PhD, discuss the main principles of providing telepsycholgy services, and provide an overview and update on the Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact (PSYPACT).

June

• Things you don’t learn in graduate school: How to prepare for success in professional practice
  Maysa Akbar, PhD, ABPP, Lynn Bufka, PhD, and Tyler Bradstreet, MS, MA, provide an overview on preparing for licensure and license mobility, the importance of billing and reimbursement rates, and common legal and regulatory issues that come up in professional practice.

September

• Town Hall with Jared L. Skillings, PhD, ABPP
  Join us for a virtual town hall with Jared L. Skillings, PhD, ABPP, APA’s new chief of professional practice.

October

• Getting Reimbursed: Testing code changes are here .
  Join Antonio Puente, PhD, and Neil Pliskin, PhD, for a follow-up session discussing the upcoming changes to the Psychological and Neuropsychological Testing Codes introduced in the July webinar. Specific codes, descriptions and practical examples will be shared.

November

• What Insurers Need to Know about the New Psychological & Neuropsychological Testing Codes
  Join Antonio Puente, PhD, and Neil Pliskin, PhD, for a discussion of the upcoming changes to the Psychological and Neuropsychological Testing Codes introduced in the July webinar, as they apply to insurers.

December

• Getting Reimbursed: Continued preparation for January's testing code changes .
  On Dec. 5, Antonio Puente, PhD, and Neil Pliskin, PhD, continued discussion of the upcoming changes to the Psychological and Neuropsychological Testing Codes for 2019. This webinar focused on how to document your work as well as introduce the new code values and payment structure.
• Getting Reimbursed: Ask the testing code experts
  On Dec. 19, Antonio Puente, PhD, and Neil Pliskin, PhD, answered questions regarding the new Psychological and Neuropsychological Testing Codes for 2019.

2017

April

• We are Business People: Learning to Market Yourself as a Psychologist
  Tyson D. Bailey, PsyD, presents an overview of marketing and learn how to create a profile of the personal characteristics of the individual or groups you’d like to reach.

September

• Geropsychology Practice: A World of Opportunity
  Michael Frese, PhD, shares tips on how to run an independent psychology practice without managing an office, find steady work in nursing or assisted living facilities, discover opportunities to work as a consultant in a medical center setting, and work part-time and make a full-time income outside of a traditional office setting.

October

• Transitioning Your Psychology Practice to Primary or Specialty Health Care
  Helen Coons, PhD, and Connie Galietti, JD, provide instruction on how to transition a psychology practice to health settings.