Insight Matters
Spring, 2003

You Truly All Make a Difference
Brien W. Dyer, M.D.

I am fortunate, and it has been my distinct pleasure, to have served you as president of the Ohio Psychiatric Association (OPA) during the past year. More importantly, it has been an honor to have served with all of you: members of the OPA, councilors, committee members, and executive staff. You truly all make a difference in bettering the lives of mentally ill and addicted persons, some of the most vulnerable and underserved human beings.

The advice I received when I started my year was to pick one or two things to concentrate on because there is so much possible to do and not enough time in which to do more. Promptly ignoring that advice, there are several ongoing issues I hope to continue working on as "immediate past president." These include (1) defeating psychologist "prescriptive authority" efforts, and (2) advocating for the combining of the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services, and the Ohio Department of Mental Health, in order to bring these important agencies together to (a) apply current science in treating dually-diagnosed individuals, (b) to lessen the administrative burden, if not cost, of treatment agencies having to deal with unnecessary bureaucracy and (c) to eliminate harmful "splitting" of efforts to deal with the whole patient.

Your OPA is always working for you and your patients, and on guard in advocating for psychiatry. We have streamlined our Constitution and Bylaws to reflect consistency with policies of the American Psychiatric Association and to make future improvements easier. Such a document may at first glance seem boring, but I invite you to read Article II - "Purpose" of the OPA.I believe you will find it quite meaningful and noble. It calls for promoting the common professional interests of our members; improving the treatment, rehabilitation, and care of persons with mental disorders (including mental retardation and substance-related disorders); promoting research and professional education in psychiatry; fostering cooperation of all who are concerned with the medical, psychological, social, and legal aspects of mental illness; providing for the best interests of patients; and advocating for our members.

Your dues are well spent. Among other accomplishments, the OPA has successfully dealt with such efforts as ensuring that marriage and family therapists are not allowed to practice in areas for which they are not trained and qualified. Mental Health parity legislation is still moving forward. However, if you are not at the legislative table, you not only may not eat, but others will eat your lunch. Psychiatry continues to have a need to educate the public, legislators, and, yes, even other physicians about how we are different from psychologists, that is, we are a medical specialty. At a recent statewide conference of Ohio medical specialty associations, I was shocked and disappointed to learn that some physicians apparently do not know what training psychologists receive (or don't receive) and, therefore, do not always know how to respond in an informed way when discussing the "psychologist prescriptive authority" issue. A recent initiative to change the name of the Ohio Psychiatric Association to the Ohio Psychiatric Medical Association, to clarify these differences, was defeated by the OPA Council, so we can now go "head-to-head" with the Ohio Psychological Association and explain the vast differences between the two OPAs to those who need to know. The OPA has not raised dues since 1997, and then by only $10.00 per year. Because of the many vital efforts your organization is doing on behalf of you and your patients, and because of simple increases in the cost of living and services, OPA monetary reserves have decreased to a critical level. Since dues are, essentially, the OPA's only source of revenue at present, OPA members at the Annual Business Meeting in Columbus on April 26, 2003 voted to increase dues from $310.00 to $390.00 per year in hopes of balancing our budget. While nobody liked having to do this, and it was not done lightly, it represents an increase of less than 22¢ per day. I do hope this will not deter any members from continuing their much needed OPA membership.

There are many issues to keep the OPA "hopping" now and in the future, from parity to mental health courts to psychiatry reimbursement to providing health care to the uninsured ("If you can't pay than you can't play." To the mentally ill and chemically addicted, access to health care is not a game, but there are definitely winners and losers). Be assured that you have great people representing you at the OPA, both volunteer and professional staff, to deal with such issues. There is strength in numbers. Please encourage your colleagues, especially medical students and residents, to join and stay in organized medicine.

Finally, my thanks to each and every member of the Ohio Psychiatric Association for every minute you volunteer to help the OPA, and for every minute you provide competent and compassionate care to your patients.

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