Emerging Patterns of Practice Committee
Michael Murphy, Ph.D., Chair
The Committee's mission is to develop and advance initiatives that assist members to implement practice innovations in services, organization, management, and marketing. The program developed by the Committee addresses the following goals: 1) to provide members data and timely assessments of practice conditions and trends, 2) to identify and promote innovative approaches to treatment and service delivery, 3) to provide information on the development of effective approaches to practice organization and management, 4) to identify and promote effective marketing techniques, and 5) to define directions for both pre-doctoral and continuing education.
In accomplishing the first goal the Committee will develop a system to monitor trends and collect and distribute information regarding changes in Medicare, trends in managed care, directions in business and industry, and emerging developments in state government. The Committee will identify trends and directions in practice and concerns of members by conducting focus groups and phone surveys of practitioners regarding service delivery and marketing issues. Initially, particular attention will be given to assessing the status of provider networks and the career paths of psychologists entering the field.
The Committee will identify twenty effective approaches to innovative services that are funded either by contract or by private pay sources. Information on these will be presented in The Independent Practitioner in a case study format. The material presented will cover an overview of the services, background knowledge and skills needed, organization and administrative issues in the development of the service, overview of clinical issues, presentation of marketing and promotional efforts, and assessment of financial factors associated with the implementation. Innovative approaches will be drawn from areas such as health promotion, services to businesses, and performance enhancement.
The Committee will identify ten marketing programs used to promote an independent practice. These will also be presented in The Independent Practitioner. Emphasis will be given to the procedures, materials, time and cost factors, and outcomes of the programs.
The Committee will identify and present models for organizing record keeping, billing, and practice monitoring. Specific programs will be discussed with emphasis on how data arising from management systems can be used in planning and implementing practice development plans.
The Committee will be coordinating its efforts with other groups in the Division and Association. In particular, efforts will be directed toward support of the marketing initiatives planned for 1998 and in providing input on training, continuing education, trends in the profession's human resources.