News, Events and Webinars

Clinical practice guideline development panel: Treatment of chronic musculoskeletal pain in adults: Seeking nominations of individuals to serve on a panel to develop a clinical practice guideline for treatment and management of chronic musculoskeletal pain in adults.

Up to code: Examining the new testing codes: Get answers to your questions about the new CPT ® codes for psychological and neuropsychological testing services.

New info on billing for psychological and neuropsychological assessment: In case you missed it, highlights of the multiple resources APA has released to prepare psychologists for the testing code changes beginning Jan. 1, 2019

Congress approves major opioids policy changes: The new bill loosens telehealth requirements and promotes non-opioid pain management.

Up to code: Testing code changes are here: Learn how and when to report the new billing codes used for psychological and neuropsychological testing.

New simplified rules and procedures of the Ethics Committee: The revised rules make changes to the review process for alleged unethical behavior.

Changes coming to testing codes: There’s a new billing code structure for psychological and neuropsychological assessment according to The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Changes were recently released in their proposed rule for the 2019 physician fee schedule.

Please stay tuned for future announcements.

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 past programs including access to the transcripts and slides.

2019

January

2019 MIPS Reporting: Everything You Want to Know about Medicare, Quality Reporting, and the Mental and Behavioral Health Registry (MBHR)
Jan. 23: 12 - 1 p.m. ET
Join Vaile Wright, PhD, and Diane Pedulla, JD, as they discuss CMS’s 2019 changes to the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) and the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), and introduce a new tool that will allow practitioners to track quality outcomes and report MIPS from a centralized location.

March

Town Hall with Jared L. Skillings, PhD, ABPP
Mar. 21: 12 - 1 p.m. ET
Join us for a virtual town hall with Jared L. Skillings, PhD, ABPP, APA’s chief of professional practice.
Registration opens in late February

January

Billing and Reimbursement: 2018 Medicare Update
Diane Pedulla, JD, shares important changes to Medicare that went into effect Jan. 1. 2018.

February

Getting reimbursed: Using Telehealth and the New Cognitive Functioning G Code
Antonio E. Puente, PhD, discusses the ins and outs of getting reimbursed for telehealth services and the new cognitive functioning G code.

March

Getting Reimbursed: How to Effectively Use H&B codes
Antonio E. Puente, PhD, talks about the purpose of and how to best use H&B codes with patients who have health care conditions.

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.

July

Getting Reimbursed: Changes coming to testing codes
Antonio Puente, PhD, Neil Pliskin, PhD, and Diane Pedulla, JD, discuss upcoming changes to the Psychological and Neuropsychological Testing Codes.

August

Quality reporting: Measuring outcomes, reporting data, and the Mental and Behavioral Health Registry (MBHR)
Vaile Wright, PhD, and Diane Pedulla, JD, introduce a new tool that will allow practitioners to track quality outcomes and report MIPS from a centralized location.

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

January

MACRA for Psychologists: How Medicare payments will change
Diane Pedulla, JD, informs psychologists about the latest changes in Medicare.

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.

May

Getting reimbursed: How to successfully bill with CPT codes
Antonio Puente, PhD, and Alan Nessman, JD, discuss effective billing strategies using CPT codes.

June

Getting reimbursed, part 2: Addressing challenges with codes, billing and insurers
Antonio Puente, PhD, and Alan Nessman, JD, cover questions on billing from psychologists who registered for the webinar or had follow-up questions to the May 8 reimbursement webinar.

July

Practicing Telehealth: What is legal and what is not?
Deborah C. Baker, JD, and Alex M. Siegel, JD, PhD, discuss the main principles of providing telepsycholgical services, and provide an overview of the Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact (PSYPACT).

August

MACRA for Psychologists: What’s changing about Medicare’s new Quality Payment Program
Diane Pedulla, JD, explains how MIPS reporting is changing and what these changes mean for your practice, and discusses how to begin preparing for 2019 and beyond.

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.

2016

August

Getting Reimbursed for Treatment of Behavioral and Neurocognitive Disorders
Antonio E. Puente, PhD, and Lynn Bufka, PhD, cover some of the basics on getting reimbursed for behavioral and neurocognitive disorder work using the ICD-10-CM system.