IPA: Prescribing Safely

Psychologists Already Prescribe Safely

Medical Psychologists will receive the additional training mandated in our proposed legislation and will prescribe safely.

To safely prescribe a medical professional must have knowledge of:

• The patient’s mental or emotional problem
• Psychopharmacology
• The patient’s medical status

• Psychologists understand the mental and emotional need of their patients.

• Psychologists have extensive training in diagnosing and treating people with mental and emotional disorders, more than any other mental health provider. A significant element in effectively prescribing medications is this very skill.

• A correct assessment of the person’s mental health problem is the foundation for choosing the best medication when medication is appropriate.

• Medical psychologists understand psychotropic medications.

• The amount of training in mental health medications required of prescribing clinical psychologists is more than that received by many of the non-psychiatric health providers who presently prescribe the majority of mental health medications.

• Medical psychologists understand the patient’s medical condition. They will prescribe in consultation with the patient’s primary care physician. Medical psychologists receive intensive and extensive education, training, supervision and testing to ensure that they have the appropriate medical training to safely prescribe.

• Exhaustive evaluations of the medical psychologists trained by the military found that “The graduates filled critical needs, and performed with excellence wherever they served” ; “Without exception, their supervisors, all psychiatrists, stated that the graduates’ quality of care was good to excellent”; the Department of Defense met its goal to train psychologists to prescribe drugs”; and “It is more cost effective to train psychologists to prescribe than to use a combination of psychologists and psychiatrists to provide the same mental health care.” (U.S. General Accounting Office. (1999). Prescribing psychologists . Washington, DC.)

• According to the U.S. News and World Report (January 31 / February 7, 2005)

Research has shown that many nonphysician providers perform safely, or at least as safely as physician do, in their expanded roles… ” In the main, it’s been very safe” , notes Cooper, because roles have expanded commensurate with training and supervision. (Cooper, who studies the enlarging roles of nonphysician clinicians and writes on quality and patient safety).

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