August 6, 1999

APA President Allan Tasman, M.D., with the support of the Board of Trustees, directed the Budget Committee last month to consider how to reallocate resources to support three significant priorities: to provide better value for membership dues, enlarge APA's presence on the Internet, and increase public policy advocacy.

"We need to ensure that APA Trustees are exerting effective leadership. To do a better job of carrying out our mission, we want to make the best use of our resources, and one way to do that is to provide more value for our members' dues," Tasman later told Psychiatric News.

Advocacy in the public policy arena will include government relations, public affairs, and initiatives to business and industry, with an emphasis on supporting activities at the state and local levels, noted Tasman. Improved electronic communication, in particular the use of a multispecialty Web site, will allow APA to disseminate mental health information to a broader audience.

Allocating additional resources for new services and programs at the district branch level will better serve APA members, added Tasman. For example, APA is considering developing a series of board certification review courses to be offered as a member benefit. Each course costs about $1,000 plus travel expenses, which is a significant amount for early career psychiatrists to pay, noted Tasman.

An appointed ad hoc group is studying the issue of membership dues and services, and another ad hoc group will study and develop the business-community initiative aimed at educating employers about the value of providing parity for all psychiatric illnesses, alcoholism, and substance abuse, said Tasman. Each ad hoc work group will present its recommendations to the Board next month. Those approved by the Board will be incorporated into the Budget Committee's recommendations, which will be discussed at the Board's October meeting.

Tasman noted that the ad hoc group on membership dues was created in response to an action item from the Assembly last year asking the board to recommend a dues cut. However, the Board is looking at other options, including how to increase value for member dues.

"Rod Muņoz and I agreed to appoint a new committee as a subset of the Board that includes a district branch president and executive director. The committee, which is chaired by Bernard Katz, M.D., chair of APA's Membership Committee, was charged with developing a comprehensive dues proposal by our September Board meeting," said Tasman.

He continued, "The Board also wants to improve the coordination of activities throughout the Association." To provide a "snapshot of APA activities at any point in time," Tasman has asked each APA council chair to develop a work plan that describes ongoing component projects and the timetable anticipated to complete each project. The work plans are to be completed by the time of the fall component meetings. Council chairs also have been asked to consider what plans or projects they want to undertake in the next few years, said Tasman.

"We want to use the creativity of the component members and leaders to generate innovative ideas that are coordinated with other APA activities to avoid duplication and focused on APA's goals and priorities," said Tasman.