Psychotherapy Finances

Treatment guidelines are being developed for depression and obesity by the American Psychological Association as the first step in a far-reaching plan to create evidence-based recommendations on how to treat a wide range of mental health disorders.

The project was approved last year by the APA Council of Representatives. A steering committee in charge of the process decided to tackle depressive disorders and obesity first, according to the December issue of the Monitor on Psychology.

The organization was already offering practice guidelines that containing treatment “tips,” the magazine said. But the treatment guidelines will incorporate research and make specific recommendations on how to deal with specific disorders.

“No individual client who comes into a psychologist’s office exactly matches the average patient who has participated in a particular study, so there’s always room for the clinician’s judgment,” Howard Kurtzman, deputy executive director for science in APA’s Science Directorate, told the Monitor. “We just want to inform the clinician about the best and most current research.”

The APA said it made the decision because the Affordable Health Care Act, which goes into effect in 2014, emphasizes the ability to compare methods of treatment. As a result, other professional organizations are preparing treatment guidelines as well.

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First it was a communication sent via your mailbox; then it was email. Now, ValueOptions is blasting news about training, credentialing and other events via its members’ cell phones.

It’s a newly launched program called Provider Pulse. Therapists in the ValueOptions network have begun getting “automated telephonic messages” announcing company news and upcoming events.

For example, a recent message was recently broadcast about the implications of the new parity law, according to the company December newsletter, The Valued Provider.

The company plans to continue the practice at least through 2012.

- John Nelander, Contributing Editor