Division 40 of the American Psychological Association

The Practice Advisory Committee is a standing committee that focuses on issues relevant to the clinical practice of neuropsychology. Its purpose is to facilitate the clinical practice mission of Division 40 and address practice-related issues as they arise and to promote the following goals:

· Promote the clinical understanding of brain-behavior relationships and the scientific basis of such knowledge.
· Promote the recognition of clinical neuropsychology as a practice division and specialty within APA.
· Improve collegiality within the neuropsychological practice community.
· Promote clinical externships, internships, residencies, and post-doctoral training experiences in the neurosciences and neuropsychology consistent with the Houston Guidelines for Specialty Training in Clinical Neuropsychology.

Recent Activities
There are two urgent issues that face practicing clinical neuropsychologists today, which the Practice Advisory Committee of Division 40, in conjunction with the APA Practice Directorate, has devoted significant effort:

(1) Technician Issue
There have been an increasing number of challenges by different states (Arkansas, New York, Oregon and previously in North Carolina) to the use of testing technicians. The assumption by these groups has been that only psychologists can do their own testing. The Practice Directorate of APA has been instrumental in taking the lead on this critical practice issue on behalf of neuropsychologists, and has been working closely with state psychological associations to address these issues as they have arisen state by state. The APA’s position is that the safety net that assures the protection of the consumer is ultimately the responsibility of the licensed doctoral level provider and that use of technicians for routine aspects of neuropsychological test administration does not place the public at risk. Thanks in large part to their efforts, there have been positive results in meeting these challenges in North Carolina, Oregon and, most recently, Arkansas.

(2) Work Value
The value of our current CPT codes (96115 & 96117) continues to decline. The Practice Directorate is working with our CPT Subcommittee (Tony Puente) in an effort to split the current code into technical and professional components as a means of ultimately increasing reimbursement for our services at a reasonable rate.