Practitioners around the country are taking steps to comply with the new Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule.

With a compliance date of April 20, 2005, the Security Rule addresses the protection of confidential health information that is either maintained or transmitted by electronic means.

"There are more technology aspects to this rule than the Privacy Rule," says Russ Newman, PhD, JD, APA’s executive director for professional practice. “The Privacy Rule addressed to whom and under what circumstances a psychologist can disclose patient information. The Security Rule is about protecting against security breaches when health
information is either maintained or transmitted electronically.”

“Anyone who has determined that they need to be in compliance with the Privacy Rule will also need to be in compliance with this rule," Newman added.

The Basics
The Security Rule requires practitioners to assess the risks to the confidentiality, integrity and accessibility of their electronic patient information and determine how to best minimize those risks.

"Practitioners need to evaluate how they operate their practice, identify any security gaps and take action to correct those gaps," says David Nickelson, PsyD, JD, assistant executive director for technology policy and projects in APA’s Practice Directorate.

The Security Rule encompasses three broad categories of standards under which psychologists must address and document safeguards:

Administrative standards focus on security issues in day-to-day administrative operations (e.g., authorizing staff access to, and use of, confidential patient information, developing an emergency operations plan and selecting a person to be responsible for all security activities).

Physical standards cover access to a psychologist’s office or other workspace so unauthorized individuals cannot physically remove electronic patient information (e.g., placing locks on doors or installing a security system).

Technical standards address access to systems that contain electronic patient information (e.g., requiring a password to access particular computers or software programs.)

Each of the three areas contains several standards along with implementation specifications that describe how to meet those standards.

Fortunately for small practices, the Security Rule is flexible, allowing for a variety of compliance activities depending on the size of the practice, the cost of implementing certain safeguards and the practice’s technological sophistication. In other words, as with the Privacy Rule, smaller practices will not be expected to implement the Security Rule on the same scale as larger ones.

HELP FOR PRACTICING PSYCHOLOGISTS
Deciphering the Security Rule and all of its requirements and options can be extremely daunting. The vast majority of the tools available to help are geared toward very large medical practices or organizations.

To assist psychologists with solo and small group practices, the APA Practice Organization has developed The HIPAA Security Rule Online Compliance Workbook, a comprehensive, easy-to-use online compliance resource to help psychologists comply with the HIPAA Security Rule.

The online workbook includes:
– Step-by-step risk analysis for all aspects of a practice
– Compliance options for each Security Rule requirement
– Customizable documentation, including Policies and Procedures

Psychologists can also choose to receive four hours of continuing education credits for completing and passing an optional online exam.

The cost for the online workbook is very competitive compared with other compliance resources on the market. APA members who pay the Practice Assessment can purchase the workbook for the discount price of $99. For other APA members the price is $139.

Practitioners who do not belong to APA will be charged the full retail price of $159.

© Copyright 2005 APA Practice Organization

One of the most valuable experiences a graduate student can acquire as an emerging professional is a sense of connection and belonging. While APGAGS provides students with the necessary and vital link to the larger world of psychology, State and Provincial Psychological Associations (SPPAs) can offer opportunities for more individualized and focused professional embellishment within a smaller community of psychologists. Membership in both associations optimizes leadership development through complimentary objectives. In fact, joint membership may be key in a student’s evolving sense of professional identity. Finding a comfortable home within SPPAs bridges the gap between the individual and the global professional affiliation that students gain through APAGS. I would like to highlight some barriers and benefits students may encounter in SPPAs that impact professional development. Hopefully this will prompt students to think about how career progression incorporates both SPPA and APAGS involvement.

SPPAs are fundamental to a psychologist’s professional and student participation in state activities builds longstanding, collaborative and rewarding alliances. In talking with and surveying students, I learned that the level of student involvement in SPPAs is dichotomously split between complete uninvolvement and extensive involvement. Reasons provided for uninvolvement include: a lack of student-specific opportunities, marginal inclusion, lacking knowledge about the advantages and need to link with the SPPAs, feeling unwelcome, feeling ambivalent about how receptive SPPAs will be to student ideas and requests, and perceiving that the SPPA is not invested in being helpful or open to students. Conversely, reasons offered for high levels of involvement include: feeling warmly welcomed and valued as a member, being treated respectfully as a colleague, availability of mentoring programs, providing legislative fellowships for students, including a student/new professionals track of programming at committees. Thus, the involved versus uninvolved distinctions seem to be traceable to SPPAs that give students a voice and those that do not. Learning how to effectively promote a constituency voice is one rudimentary step toward professional and leadership skill development.

Students who are visible and participatory in SPPA functions are demonstrating interest in having their professional growth supported and in offering important student perspectives. In return, they are usually highly regarded and their involvement is encouraged and nurtured. This interdependent pattern of activity constitutes professional development within the context of SPPAs. I have formulated some fundamental premises about successful professional development, admittedly based on my beliefs and values. I offer this conceptualization, which infers an on-going and every-changing progression:

WHO is it for? Professional development is a continuous process for both novice and accomplished psychologists.

WHAT is it? Professional development has two crucial pieces. First, it is the process by which we are socialized into the culture of psychology. As with any culture, there are unique group characteristics that include formal and informal rules, rituals, expected behaviors, a common or unified purpose, and shared values beliefs and goals. Second, it is any activity that presents the opportunity to refine or expand present skills.

WHERE does it occur? Professional development can take place in a variety of contexts and settings. But some environments such as SPPAs and APAGS, provide greater accessibility to the types of experiences that foster professional growth.

WHEN does it happen? It happens when we are interacting with others, when we have the opportunity to discuss our ideas, to learn more about the musings of others, and to contemplate the meanings and effects of what we do and how well we do it.

WHY is it important? Personally, this answer is simple. If we stop believing that we have something more to learn or understand, we become stagnant and ineffective.

HOW do we do it? For students, we begin to develop professionally as we build our confidence. In order to build our confidence, it is helpful to practice behaving "as if" professional status has already been attained, but in a supervised setting. After all, this is the philosophy of practicum and internship experiences. This principle can also apply to the guided practice opportunities students receive in SPPAs.

There are several activities, or guided practice opportunities, that can benefit students and SPPAs. Some of these activities and opportunities can be jointly organized. These may include membership drives, SPPA and university co-sponsored workshops, convention volunteering in exchange for free admission, permitting students to chair and present convention programs, including student representation on SPPA subcommittees, sponsoring employment and networking fairs, writing for newsletters, assisting with research, spearheading or assisting with legislative advocacy efforts, attending board meetings, retreats and socials, and providing recognition through awards and scholarships. This list of suggestions is certainly not comprehensive, but it can be used as a launching point for conversations between students and SPPAs.

Students in SPPAs can profit from the learned wisdom of senior members and create tailored experiences to address specific professional development needs. APAGS is a strong, unique and influential force in psychology, and students enjoy innumerable membership benefits. This far-reaching impact is crucial and necessary. At the same time, SPPA membership compliments what APAGS offers by fostering a sense of local community and serving as a training ground for future leaders in psychology.

This article first appeared in the Summer 2000 Edition of the APAGS Newsletter, Vol, 12 (2)

About the Section:

Programmatic goals include the following:

1. Support of more collaborative programs and discourse within IPA regarding the interface of academic and practicing psychologists.

2. Furtherance of dialogue and dissemination of information about changes in training and licensure requirements for psychologists at the state and national levels. This includes movement to change the number of practicum hours required to qualify for predoctoral internships, proposals at the national level to eliminate the post-doctoral training year requirement for licensure in all states, proposals to offer a transitional/temporary license in IL to post-docs which would allow for billing and reimbursement of services (a movement I will actively support) and APA’s prioritization of a shift of licensure title from Clinical Psychologist to Health Service Psychologist within the broader focus on Integrative Health Care.

3. Promotion of best practices in facilitating difficult but constructive dialogues regarding multicultural diversity in the classroom and on campuses.

4. Advocacy for enhanced funding for IL colleges and universities, specifically with regard to scientific research.

5. Collaboration with IPAGS (IPA Graduate Students) and ECPs (Early Career Psychologists) to facilitate entry into the profession.

6. Promotion of excellence and innovation in teaching methods

If our vision and purpose resonate with you, please join us! You may join our section as you submit or renew your IPA membership. If you have any questions about the process, please contact our Executive Director, Marsha Karey at 312-372-7610 x201 or mkarey@illinoispsychology.org

About the Section:

Mission & Purpose
The purpose of this Section shall be to advocate for the interests of applied clinical psychology through:

• Advancing the science and profession of clinical psychology to solve practical problems of human behavior and experience.

• Providing support for the section’s Health Care Reimbursement Committee (HCRC), whose goal is to help the IPA membership keep abreast of health care reimbursement-related issues by responding to member questions and concerns and providing educational opportunities to IPA members.

• Educating insurance companies and third-party payer organizations about psychological services via the HCRC.

• Supporting the education and training of clinical psychologists and psychology trainees.

• Furthering collegial relationships within the field of applied clinical psychology and with allied health professions.

• Submission of three annual, measurable section objectives yielding a tangible return for membership dues invested in the section, while simultaneously recognizing members’ generational differences and needs.

• Understanding that the clinical section’s visibility becomes a vehicle to promote IPA’s relevance to psychology practice, yielding maximum annual retention of existing members and expansion of the section.

• Inviting each new IPA member to join the clinical practice section via personal outreach phone call from the chair.

• Using social media tools (e.g. Constant Contact) tools in order to ensure that psychologists are able to engage, connect and communicate with clinical practitioners. It is essential that psychologists be able to identify tangible benefits from belonging to the section.

All activities of the Clinical Practice Section shall conform to the bylaws and policies and procedures of the IPA.

Contact the Chair:
Any IPA member may elect to join the Clinical Practice Section.
You can apply to join this section by contacting the current Clinical Practice Section Chair.

If our vision and purpose resonate with you, please join us! You may join our section as you submit or renew your IPA membership. If you have any questions about the process, please contact our Executive Director, Marsha Karey at 312-372-7610 x201 or mkarey@illinoispsychology.org

Organizational & Business Consulting Psychology involves providing services to individuals, work teams, and entire organizations regarding improving performance effectiveness, developing skills and talent, reducing conflict between people and systems, and strengthening team cohesion. Specialties of our members include management consulting and executive coaching, leadership selection, succession planning, organizational stress audits, 360 degree evaluations of leaders, and assessing organizational culture. The section is committed to continuing education programs, networking for professional opportunities, and promoting the benefits of the specialty to the public through activities such as the Illinois Psychologically Healthy Workplace Award.

The Section on Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity shall seek to advance the contribution of psychology in understanding sexual orientation and gender diversity, to educate psychologists and the general public in matters of sexual orientation and gender diversity, and to advocate for the provision of ethical and informed psychological services to those dealing with sexual orientation and gender diversity.

LGBTQ resources

Children’s texts/articles:
My Two Moms and Me. Michael Joosten (ages 0-3)
Daddy, Papa, and Me. Leslea Newman (ages 0-3)
Julian is a Mermaid. Jessica Love (ages 4-8)
Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag. Rob Sanders (ages 5-8)
Zenobia July. Lisa Bunker (ages 10+)
Neither. Airlie Anderson (grades Pre-K to 2)
A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo. Maron Bundo and Jill Twiss (grades K and up)
The Adventures of Honey & Leon. Alan Coming and Grant Shaffer (grades Pre-k to 3).
Phoenix Goes to School. Michelle Finch and Pheonix (grades K to 3).
Love is Love. Michael Genhart. (grades Pre-k to 3).
Prince & Knight. Daniel Haack and Stevie Lewis (grades Pre-k to 3).

Emerging Adult articles/text:
https://www.healthysexuals.com/ is a nice safer sex resource targeted
toward young people. (LGBT+ focused)

Bornstein, K. (2013). My New Gender Workbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Achieving World Peace Through Gender Anarchy and Sex Positivity. 2nd Edition, Routledge.

Singh, A. & Ehrensaft, D. (2018). The Queer and Transgender Resilience Workbook: Skills for Navigating Sexual Orientation and Gender Expression. New Harbinger Publications; Workbook edition.

Adult articles/text:
Testa, R.J., Coolhard, D. & Peta, J. (2015). The Gender Quest Workbook. New Harbor Publications, Inc.

Drescher, J. & Pula, J. (2014). Ethical issues raised by the treatment of gender-variant prepubescent children. LGBT Bioethics: Visibility, Disparities, and Dialogue, special report, Hastings Center Report 44(5), S17-S22.

Chang, S.C., Singh, A.A., & dickey, l. (2018). A Clinician’s guide to gender-affirming care: Working with transgender and gender nonconforming clients. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications, Inc.

Lee, D.J. (2015). Rescuing Jesus: How People of Color, Women & Queer Christians Are Reclaiming Evangelism. Boston: Beacon Press.

Gagnon, R.A.J. & Otto Via, D. (2003) Homosexuality and the Bible: Two Views.

Wallace, C.M. (2015). Confronting Religious Denial of Gay Marriage. Wipf and Stock Publishing.
Lev, A.I. (2004). Transgender emergence: Therapeutic guidelines for working with gender-variant people and their families. New York: Hawarth Clinical Press.

Vanderburgh, R. (2011). Transition and beyond: Observations on gender identity. Reid Vanderburgh Publishing.

Keo-Meier, C.L. & Fitzgerald, K.M. (2017). Affirmative psychological test and neurocognitive assessment with transgender adults. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 40, 51–64.

Snorton, C. R. (2017). Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Older Adults articles/text:
Ducheny, K., Hardacker, C., & Houlberg, M. (2018). Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Health and Aging. Springer Publishing. ISBN-13: 978-3319950303.

Families:
Owens-Reid, D. & Russo, K. This Is a Book for Parents of Gay Kids: A Question & Answer Guide to Everyday Life.

Gottlieb, A. (2005). Side by Side: On Having a Gay or Lesbian Sibling. New York: Routledge.

Krieger, I. (2011). Helping Your Transgender Teen: A Guide for Parents. London: Genderwise press.

Distinction Support www.distinctionsupport.com which also has a Facebook group

Additional Resources:
The ManKind Project
http://www.mankindpridechicago.org
https://mankindpride.mkpusa.org

Women Within
https://womanwithincentralusa.org/woman-within-weekend/
www.hishealth.org (modules on transgender health, PREP, whole health assessment, etc)

Trainings:
Transgender and Intersex Specialty Care Clinic at Mayo Clinic
Here’s a link where you’ll find the full schedule:
https://ce.mayo.edu/psychiatry-and-psychology/content/principles-care-transgender-and-intersex-patients-2019