Insight Matters
Fall, 2004

New challenges create new committee
by Brien Dyer, M.D., Chair, Ad Hoc Committee on Scope of Practice

The Psychiatric profession has always advocated for, above all, competent and safe care for our patients. Mentally ill and drug-addicted people, among the most vulnerable individuals in our society, especially deserve top quality care since their insight, judgment, and resources are often impaired. They depend on us to look out for them.

In recent years, some non-physician practitioners have chosen to seek legislative instead of educational means to practice medicine. Marriage and family therapists, and advanced practice nurses have sought such practice permission. Most egregious, however, have been certain psychologists who apparently "do not know what they do not know" about what knowledge and skills it takes to safely prescribe medications (or who perhaps do not want to think about it carefully). As you know, they have successfully bamboozled the Guam, New Mexico, and Louisiana legislatures into granting then "prescriptive authority" with outrageously inadequate training and experience, let alone supervision. It is now critical to educate other state legislatures, including Ohio's, about why they should not follow the example of these three.

Proactively, Herman A. Tolbert, M.D., President of the Ohio Psychiatric Association (OPA), and the OPA Council, have established the Scope of Practice Committee, whose purpose is:

To monitor the activities of all medical and mental health disciplines that may
affect the practice of psychiatry and the care of patients who suffer from
mental illness, alcoholism and drug addiction. In liaison with other OPA
committees, recommends specific actions that may be taken on the part of the
OPA Council and individual members to proactively educate policymakers,
the public and other health care professionals about scope of practice issues
related to mental illness, alcohol and other drug addiction.

As chairperson of the Scope of Practice Committee, my present goals are to:

1.) Ask any interested OPA members to serve with me (E-mail: bdyer@shp-dayton.org).

2.) Train and assign at least one OPA member to each of the 33 senators and 99 representatives in the State of Ohio Legislature to establish a relationship, educate them on issues important to our patients and profession, and advocate for their support. If you already have such a relationship, please let me know. The OPA Council had an excellent briefing on September 26, 2004 by Tony Shivers, State Legislative Field Representative, American Psychiatric Association (APA) Department of Government Relations concerning grassroots advocacy. The APA is a great resource for us, especially for "lessons learned."

You can find out who your state senator and representative are by going to www.legislature.state.oh.us/. Your OPA, with your help, will continue to lead the fight for quality and safe care for our patients. Please enlist!

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