In this, the first of a series of reports to the membership, I'd like to comment on our recent national meetings and on other important activities of the organization.
At the spring meetings, I was once more impressed by the enthusiasm and devotion of the many colleagues who work on the committees of the Board on Professional Standards and of the Executive Council. Their energy and earnestness always amaze me and are a reassurance about the health and vigor of our organization. At both the Board and the Council, the members proceeded soberly, studiously, and responsibly despite deeply felt differences of opinion as they debated crucial decisions that would affect the structure and composition of the Association and indeed the future of psychoanalysis.
Under the leadership of their able chairpersons, the various committees of the Executive Council and of the Board are, in turn, quietly and effectively addressing those and many other issues of concern to our field as a science and as a profession. In this report I focus on the work of two committees that are extremely busy on behalf of all of us; in future issues, I will be telling you about the work of other important committees.
The Committee on Government Relations and Insurance and the Task Force on Research and Information, both chaired by Norman (Drew) Clemens, are doing work that will have an immediate and lasting effect on all of us as practitioners of psychoanalysis and long-term psychotherapy. They were instrumental, for example, in developing a new code for psychoanalysis, 90845, which went into effect with the 1990 edition of the AMA's Current Procedural Terminology. The Committee, in collaboration with the Committee on Peer Review.chaired by Sheila Hafter Gray, has now begun an educational campaign on the use of this new code. The CGRI has also been working with the Harvard Resource Based Relative Value Study, which is destined to be influential in future medical payment systems. They are also presenting our point of view on legislation affecting federal employees' health benefits as well as many of the interconnections among government and private insurers that will determine whether or not our work is included coverage.
Under a subcommittee chaired by Henry Bachrach, the Task Force on Research and Information, composed of representatives from the CGRI and the Committees on Scientific Activities and Public Information, has completed a thorough review of the literature on the outcome and efficacy of psychoanalysis. The work of his study will be published soon and will be the background for a new independent study of outcome and efficacy by a distinguished group of researchers under the chairmanship of Robert Wallerstein. In addition Dr. Clemens's Task Force has prepared information for employers and third-party payers. According to recent actuarial studies based on 1988 data, employers can offer very good outpatient coverage of psychotherapy at reasonable cost. These materials, among them a pamphlet entitled “The Case for Economic Support for Psychoanalysis,” will be useful to our members in working with those who make decisions about health plan benefits. They are available through the Central Office.
The Committee on Scientific Activities, headed by Alvin Frank, has been studying the idea of founding a psychoanalytic press under the aegis of the Association. This idea has been considered for several years, and the CSA subcommittee's report is highly favorable. I am appointing a new Ad Hoc Committee to work out the details and possibly to present its recommendations to the Executive Council for authorization to proceed and to implement the idea. The sources and content of what should be published, as well as organizational and fiscal issues, will be its purview of this committee.
To turn to the major issues confronting us now, two proposed by- law amendments are being prepared. A task force directed by Marvin Margolis is designing one that would delink active membership from certification. At the spring meetings, the Task Force reported on its initial study of the many complex issues entailed by this proposed major restructuring of the Association. The Executive Committee has decided that its members are free to express their own particular opinions, and several- on both sides of the issue- have done so in a supplement to this issue of TAP, which will be out soon. My opinion is that the importance of the outcome of this vote (a two-thirds majority is required for its passage) cannot be overestimated.
The other major issue before us is the implementation of the motion to formulate a by-law amendment to expand eligibility for membership to certain groups of nonphysicians without the necessity of a waiver by the Committee on Nonmedical Clinical Training. The proposal was formulated by the Executive Committee under the leadership of Dr. Curtis, who has agreed to head the Task Force to design the amendment. Joining him in this important task are Allan Rosenblatt, Leo Sadow, Paula Bernstein, Dan Buie, Carl Davis, and Helen Rosen. These members are all particularly well-qualified to address the issue of which groups should be eligible for admission by local institutes under the expanded guidelines and which should still require a national waiver process. The Executive Committee sees this change as part of the evolutionary process to include nonmedical training and membership in The American that began with the passage of the Gaskill Proposal in 1975.
Before closing, I want to note the appointment of David Sachs of the Philadelphia Association as our official liaison representative to the IPA. He attended our fruitful session with a delegation from the IPA headed by Dr. Sandler at the spring meeting.
Among the other important matters and committee activities I will comment on in future editions are the creation of a new committee to study issues stemming from our increasing percentage of Life Members and our plans to move forward with the psychoanalytic press mentioned earlier. Other key committees of the Executive Council, as well as Joint Committees such as those on University and Medical Education and on Soviet Educational Exchanges, will also receive our attention.
George Allison, MD