Statewide Impact Included with Your PPAC Membership
California psychiatrists are very busy, in-demand medical professionals. So, it’s fair to ask why you should make time for membership in the Psychiatric Physician's Alliance of California (PPAC). Simply stated, an effective advocacy program for patients, psychiatrists and their practices will make your practice of medicine safer, more fair and reasonable, and increasingly efficient. The impact of your participation in the Alliance will have statewide - sometimes nationwide - impact. We make a difference in your care for your patients.
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Backgound
Psychiatric Physicians Alliance of California (PPAC) is a professional advocacy organization developed to meet the needs of practicing psychiatrists throughout the state. We are carrying on the traditions of the successful and extensive advocacy work of the former California Psychiatric Association (CPA). Here is a brief and concise summary of this transition:
CPA - renowned for its advocacy on behalf of patients and psychiatrists – has gone out of business and will soon dissolve. There is no CPA 2.0 in existence or in development and PPAC was created to step into the void created when the advocacy role and function of CPA ceased to exist.
PPAC’s sole purpose is to be a laser-focused advocacy organization that will continue to advocate for and champion the established and distinguished tradition of psychiatry.
PPAC has no American Psychiatric Association status. It is not a new APA Area 6 Council. PPAC is not an APA designated state organization. District branches of the APA may affiliate with PPAC if they choose, but there is no obligation on their part to do so. PPAC is independent and unaffiliated by design.
PPAC Strategy and Plan
PPAC is organized by and for psychiatrists. All psychiatrists. And only for psychiatrists. Any psychiatrist who wishes to support strong psychiatric advocacy is welcome to join us.
PPAC has a plan. It shares common advocacy interests with the APA and its district branches. Unlike District Branches and the APA who have a broad array of additional priorities, mandates and functions the Alliance has a single purpose – Advocacy.
PPAC will utilize a government affairs committee and a political action committee, will leverage acknowledged psychiatric experts to inform policy, will adopt policies similar to those established by the CPA and will stay true to the best values of the APA.
Experienced, seasoned lobbyists like Randall Hagar and Jim Gross (partner at Nielsen, Merksamer, Parinello, Gross and Leoni) are committed to PPAC and to creating a new history of success . CPA didn’t merely respond to legislation, it initiated and sponsored multiple bills each year. PPAC will use this same model.
What does this all add up to? Continuity in advocacy. You know us. We are time-tested and you know what we can do. We won’t let advocacy fade away as the CPA dissolves.
We will do what CPA has always excelled at: educating policy makers to make good choices for psychiatric patients and the practice of psychiatry throughout California.
In addition, because of our laser focus on advocacy, the Alliance will be able to reduce costs when compared to running a statewide organization that possesses much broader interests and activities.
Membership
For California psychiatrists, membership in PPAC provides a number of important services.
Among these is protection of your profession which comes under threat each and every year with proposals such as:
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Empowering Nurse Practitioners to practice medicine without standardized medical training and education
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Repeated attempts by the Medical Board to gain access to psychiatric records without patient consent
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Bills that seek to give psychologists the ability to prescribe medications
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Discontinuing parity for telehealth practice and telehealth payment
Some these are perennial attempts to override the expertise and medical education of psychiatrists. Others are new challenges that must be met head on. PPAC will also battle organized groups of anti-psychiatry advocates.
PPAC will depend upon your membership and participation to keep the historically powerful advocacy for psychiatry consistent and influential in the State Capitol. We invite and encourage you to join us now – today. We cannot afford to lose our momentum. Legislators and state departments will depend on PPAC to be there, representing you and the protecting the critical practice of psychiatry in the State of California.
We ask Founding Members to contribute whatever they can afford to get PPAC off the ground. Our immediate task is to continue the work uninterrupted. We need to grow PPAC membership. Basic dues start at just $325 a year, with a break for medical students, residents, fellows and early career psychiatrists. An annual budget based on this amount is significantly less than that of other medical associations because we have designed our mission to be highly focused for you. Again. Join us today.
Thank you for the work you do. We are proud to represent your interests.
JOIN PPAC TODAY for your Tommorow!
