Organized Psychiatry

What Organized Psychiatry Does For You That You Cannot Do Alone

• Meets with national, state and local legislators to support and/or introduce favorable legislation and to modify or terminate adverse proposed legislation.

• Maintains periodic contact with key government people to promote plans of benefit to patients in need of psychiatric care.
• Opposes legislation and judicial actions that adversely affect patients by inappropriately expanding the scope of practice of non-medical providers.
• Works to eliminate stigma of mental illness and to raise the public's awareness of the magnitude and importance of mental illness in our society.
• Informs the public of benefits derived from psychiatric care and psychiatric research.
• Provides stimulating educational meetings and materials for psychiatrists.
• Provides timely information to the public on psychiatric topics of interest.
• Provides leadership efforts to insure an adequate level of care for patients at state hospitals.
• Advocates for improvements in the Medi-Cal and Medicare programs.
• Continues vigorous promotion for more adequate insurance coverage for those suffering serious psychiatric illness and achievement of parity with insurance coverage for physical illness.
• Promotes awareness that psychiatric physicians have unique expertise for integrating biological, psychological and social factors in the diagnosis and treatment of emotionally disturbed patients.
• Maintains active liaison with the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill and local affiliates, the mental health associations, and other patient groups.
• Presents community conferences to provide information and education on mental illness to the general public, legislature, members of the media, and mental health professionals.
• Supports members for service in national and state professional societies.
• Maintains active liaison with local medical societies, California Medical Association, California Society for Addiction Medicine, and the Regional Organization of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
• Develops and distributes educational literature for members and the general public.
• Fosters inter-collegial communication through District Branch and California Psychiatric Association newsletters.
• Provides disaster response services.
• Provides information and education to members on managed care programs.
• Encourages ongoing mental health research and support for such research by the State of California.
• Supports an active network of chapters throughout Northern California.
• Maintains active liaison with and provides professional guidance to the Psychiatric Foundation of Northern California in support of its programs for the homeless mentally ill and National Depression Screening Days.