A survey of clinical psychologists in Illinois regarding prescription privileges.

Abstract

Heritage Professional AssociatesThis survey examined an array of Illinois psychologists' attitudes regarding prescription privileges. Of the licensed psychologists in the state, 25% (n ϭ 890) were randomly selected to receive the survey, and a return rate of 37.8% was obtained. A total of 61.2% of the responding psychologists endorsed prescription privileges; 25.9% planned to prescribe once trained. Years of experience, theoretical orientation, and the population density of a psychologist's county were not significant variables affecting the desire to prescribe. The sample was evenly divided over whether there were enough qualified physicians to prescribe psychotropic medication to their clients. However, regardless of their status as an urban or rural psychologist, those most likely to prescribe indicated that there were not enough qualified physicians in their locale. Compared with the general population, psychologists are overrepresented in the most urban areas and underrepresented in the nonmetro areas of Illinois. Because more psychologists endorsed prescription privileges (61.2%) than reported that there were not enough qualified physicians (40.9%), there are other variables affecting prescription privilege attitudes that warrant further investigation.

What Oregon Psychologists Think and Know About Prescriptive Authority: Divided Views and Data‐Driven Change

“…Of the psychologists contacted, 397 completed the survey, 242 declined to participate, and 104 did not return contact yielding a response rate of 53%. Although directly contacting psychologists by phone and email resulted in higher response rates relative to prior studies that recruited via mail (Baird, ; Fagan et al., ; Sammons, Gorny, Zinner, & Allen, ), future researchers should note that this population can be difficult to recruit, even with more direct phone and email contact methods.…”

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“…Additionally, data from New Mexico and Louisiana suggest that most prescribers either move out of the state (20%) and do not prescribe or primarily treat patients in urban (59%) versus rural settings (see Appendix A). Furthermore, past studies raise further questions about the legitimacy of the rural argument: (a) almost no psychologists were found to practice in true rural counties in a survey‐based study of Illinois psychologists (Baird, ); (b) psychologists practicing in both non‐metro and urban areas perceived similar problems with access to trained medication prescribers in a study of Illinois (Baird, ) and Oregon psychologists (Campbell, Kearns, & Patchin, ); and (c) non‐metro Illinois psychologists were no more likely than their urban counterparts to pursue training to become a prescriber (Baird, ). The current study seeks to evaluate the degree to which psychologists, especially those interested in pursuing training in RxP, practice in non‐metro areas in Oregon in sufficient numbers to lend legitimacy to the claim of improved access.…”

“…Proposals by the initial APA task force (Smyer et al., ) and the Psychopharmacology Demonstration Project (PDP; American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, ) recommended that trainees possess a strong science background consonant with what is required of other non‐physician prescribers who can independently prescribe. It is perplexing that proponents openly acknowledge these reduced standards, “… psychology has the core curriculum with probably the least overlap with traditional medical curricula” (Fox et al., , p. 258), whereas surveys suggest that psychologists believe that in order to competently prescribe, their knowledge and training should be equivalent with that of other prescribers (Baird, ; Grandin & Blackmore, ).…”

“…In addition, prior studies, in surveying psychologists about their attitudes, have generally not paid attention to pre‐existing knowledge about relevant issues (Baird, ; Simpson & Kluck, ), nor have they examined views about cost, feasibility, and access. For example, although over 75% of Baird's sample of clinical psychologists in Illinois indicated that they were “familiar with issues surrounding prescription authority for psychologists,” nearly half were not familiar with the training model used in the Department of Defense Psychopharmacology Demonstration Project (DoD PDP) and over one‐third were not familiar with APA's training model.…”