Accomplishments and Vision of The Psychiatric Physicians Alliance of California

As part of PRMS’ ongoing commitment to behavioral health, we are pleased to feature Randall Hagar, Psychiatric Physicians Alliance of California Policy Advocate and Principal of Empirical Policy, as a featured guest blogger this month. Mr. Hagar shares updates on the Alliance’s accomplishments over the past four years. 

Mission-Driven Advocacy for California’s Psychiatrists and Patients

The Psychiatric Physicians Alliance of California (the Alliance) was designed to meet the needs of practicing psychiatrists while advocating for California’s psychiatrists and patients. Guided by both veteran experts in mental health policy and psychiatric physicians who understand the critical importance of advocacy in a state as diverse as California, the Alliance focuses on mission-driven advocacy to provide a safer, fairer, and more equitable mental health environment for all Californians.

Preventing Legislation Allowing Psychologists to Prescribe Medications and Protecting Patient Records

We celebrate the Alliance’s continued success in preventing the introduction of legislation that would allow psychologists to practice medicine, in particular prescribing psychotropic medications, going back to 1995. The team defeated two additional attempts (for a total of six) by the Medical Board of California to legislate board access to psychiatric patient records without patient consent since 2010, as well.

Achieving Positive Goals for California’s Behavioral Health System

The Alliance also supports and achieves positive goals by:

• Shaping and helping gain voter approval for Proposition 1 – which modernizes our behavioral health delivery system and provides $6.3 billion for housing and facility expansion – on March 5, 2024
• Modernizing the 1967 Lanterman-Petris-Short Act (LPS) grave disability standard to allow consideration of an inability to provide for personal safety or necessary medical care
• Prior authorization: sponsoring legislation which reduces administrative care barriers
• Providing early psychosis treatment to youth experiencing first episodes
• Preventing the use of psilocybin adjunctive therapy without a framework using licensed mental health professionals operating under medical supervision

Join the Alliance and Advocate for the Future of Psychiatry

We invite you to learn more about the Psychiatric Physicians Alliance of California and to join us in fighting for the profession of psychiatry. Please contact me directly at rhagar@capsychiatrists.org with any questions you may have, and learn more about PPAC at www.psychiatristsca.org, as well as in PRMS’ blog here.

Thank you for the work you do as a physician. It is our privilege to represent our shared interests.

Click here to learn more about the superior psychiatry-specific insurance program and comprehensive services offered by PRMS.