After 12 years of struggle, the Mental Health Parity Act was signed into law in October 2008. This is a great accomplishment, and a key goal of the law is to help ensure access to needed mental health services. However, although coverage is necessary for access, it is not sufficient to ensure it. Another critical ingredient needed is an adequate supply of appropriately educated and trained health professionals. It is imperative to ask and assess whether an adequate supply of mental health professionals (of which psychiatrists make up a significant part) in the United States will be available to ensure future access to high-quality mental health services. Over the past 20 years, the demand for physician services has increased as a result of a number of interrelated factors, such as the growth and aging of the population, increased effectiveness of medical treatments, and the publics increasingly high expectations of the health care systems ability to heal (1). Over the past decade, the number of new physicians entering the workforce has increased only slightly over the same period (2). These trends, combined with the likelihood that more than one-third of active physicians are likely to retire in the next
Planning the Future Mental Health Workforce: With Progress on Coverage, What Role Will Psychiatrists Play?
Abstract
After 12 years of struggle, the Mental Health Parity Act was signed into law in October 2008. This is a great accomplishment, and a key goal of the law is to help ensure access to needed mental health services. However, although coverage is necessary for access, it is not sufficient to ensure it. Another critical ingredient needed is an adequate supply of appropriately educated and trained health professionals. It is imperative to ask and assess whether an adequate supply of mental health professionals (of which psychiatrists make up a significant part) in the United States will be available to ensure future access to high-quality mental health services. Over the past 20 years, the demand for physician services has increased as a result of a number of interrelated factors, such as the growth and aging of the population, increased effectiveness of medical treatments, and the publics increasingly high expectations of the health care systems ability to heal (1). Over the past decade, the number of new physicians entering the workforce has increased only slightly over the same period (2). These trends, combined with the likelihood that more than one-third of active physicians are likely to retire in the nextPreview Only. This article cannot be rented because we do not currently have permission from the publisher.
/lp/american-psychiatric-publishing-inc-journal/planning-the-future-mental-health-workforce-with-progress-on-coverage-nXlE9ApsbP
Welcome to DeepDyve! Rent Premier Research Articles and Save Up to 90%
Preview Only
Planning the Future Mental Health Workforce: With Progress on Coverage, What Role Will Psychiatrists Play?
Vernon, David J.; Salsberg, Edward; Erikson, Clese; Kirch, Darrell G.
Follow Academic Psychiatry
, Volume 33 (3): 187
American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc (Journal) – May 1, 2009
More Info
More Like This Article
View All dataSource[]=actageo&dataSource[]=aspet&dataSource[]=aaos&dataSource[]=aacc&dataSource[]=aacr&dataSource[]=aea&dataSource[]=aip&dataSource[]=ajnr&dataSource[]=ams&dataSource[]=aps_physical&dataSource[]=appi_book&dataSource[]=appi_journal&dataSource[]=apha&dataSource[]=asip&dataSource[]=asm&dataSource[]=asn&dataSource[]=aspb&dataSource[]=avs&dataSource[]=annual_reviews&dataSource[]=arxiv&dataSource[]=acm&dataSource[]=berghahn&dataSource[]=cabi&dataSource[]=clinical_trials&dataSource[]=dailymed&dataSource[]=degruyter&dataSource[]=du_press&dataSource[]=esa&dataSource[]=eu_press&dataSource[]=elsevier&dataSource[]=emerald&dataSource[]=ejtr&dataSource[]=emea&dataSource[]=epo&dataSource[]=faseb&dataSource[]=gsa&dataSource[]=health_affairs&dataSource[]=hindawi&dataSource[]=imanager&dataSource[]=imedpub&dataSource[]=informa_healthcare&dataSource[]=informs&dataSource[]=iop&dataSource[]=iucr&dataSource[]=iospress&dataSource[]=jbjs&dataSource[]=leftcoast&dataSource[]=lu_press&dataSource[]=mesharpe&dataSource[]=mary_ann_liebert&dataSource[]=medline&dataSource[]=mit_press&dataSource[]=nature&dataSource[]=oxford&dataSource[]=pier_professional&dataSource[]=pnas&dataSource[]=portlandpress&dataSource[]=psyc_articles&dataSource[]=psyc_books&dataSource[]=psyc_critiques&dataSource[]=plos_journal&dataSource[]=pubmed_central&dataSource[]=rsna&dataSource[]=rockefeller&dataSource[]=rcn&dataSource[]=ria&dataSource[]=rsc&dataSource[]=sage&dataSource[]=spie&dataSource[]=springer_journal&dataSource[]=springer&dataSource[]=taylor_francis&dataSource[]=aps&dataSource[]=the_scientist&dataSource[]=uc_press&dataSource[]=uspto_abstract&dataSource[]=wiley&dataSource[]=pct
© 2012 DeepDyve, Inc. All rights reserved.
Terms of Service | Privacy Policy
