Society of Pediatric Psychology Workforce Survey: Factors Related to Compensation of Pediatric Psychologists

Objective

To summarize compensation results from the 2015 Society of Pediatric Psychology (SPP) Workforce Survey and identify factors related to compensation of pediatric psychologists.

Methods

All full members of SPP ( n  = 1,314) received the online Workforce Survey; 404 (32%) were returned with usable data. The survey assessed salary, benefits, and other income sources. The relationship between demographic and employment-related factors and overall compensation was explored.

Results

Academic rank, level of administrative responsibility, and cost of living index of employment location were associated with compensation. Compensation did not vary by gender; however, women were disproportionately represented at the assistant and associate professor level.

Conclusions

Compensation of pediatric psychologists is related to multiple factors. Longitudinal administration of the Workforce Survey is needed to determine changes in compensation and career advancement for this profession over time. Strategies to increase the response rate of future Workforce Surveys are discussed.

Targeting Health Behaviors to Reduce Health Care Costs in Pediatric Psychology: Descriptive Review and Recommendations

OBJECTIVE

Recent efforts to enhance the quality of health care in the United States while reducing costs have resulted in an increased emphasis on cost containment and the introduction of new payment plans. The purpose of this review is to summarize the impact of pediatric health behavior change interventions on health care costs.

METHODS

A review of PubMed, PsycINFO, and PEDE databases identified 15 articles describing the economic outcomes of pediatric health behavior change interventions. Data describing the intervention, health outcome, and economic outcome were extracted.

RESULTS

All interventions targeting cigarette smoking (n = 3) or the prevention of a chronic medical condition (n = 5) were predicted to avert hundreds of dollars in health care costs per patient. Five of the seven interventions targeting self-management were associated with reductions in health care costs.

CONCLUSIONS

Pediatric health behavior change interventions may be a valuable component of efforts to improve population health while reducing health care costs.

[Concept of budget-based remuneration system for the fields of psychiatry and psychotherapy, psychosomatic medicine and psychotherapy, child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy]

A new remuneration system is currently being developed for the hospital care of people with mental disorders. Last year, because of sharp criticism the option phase of the planned Flat-rate Charges in Psychiatry and Psychosomatics (Pauschalierende Entgelte Psychiatrie und Psychosomatik, PEPP) was extended by 2 years. During this time the Federal Ministry of Health wants to look for alternatives and possible starting points for the further development of care. Now, 16 scientific professional associations and organisations have presented a joint concept for a sustainable solution: the budget-based remuneration system. The system is suitable for ensuring that people with mental disorders are treated according to their particular needs and for promoting the appropriate further development of regional care in all treatment settings. It corresponds with the objectives as formulated in Section 17d of the Hospital Finance Act (Krankenhausfinanzierungsgesetz, KHG) and translates the PEPP system, which is currently being developed and focusses on average prices, into a performance-oriented, transparent budgetary system. The fundamental principle is the separation of the individual hospitals' budgeting on the basis of evidence-based, feature- and performance-related modules and billing in the form of advance payments from the agreed budget.

Child participation in disaster risk reduction: the case of flood-affected children in Bangladesh

Children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of natural disasters. This article aims to gain a deeper understanding of the specific effects of natural disasters on children and how they could better be involved in the disaster risk reduction (DRR) process. The article begins with a review of the literature published on the Child-led Disaster Risk Reduction (CLDRR) approach and describes the key issues. Then it identifies the effects of floods on children in Bangladesh and analyses the traditional coping mechanisms developed by communities, highlighting where they could be improved. Finally, it analyses how DRR stakeholders involve children in the DRR process and identifies the opportunities and gaps for the mainstreaming of a CLDRR approach in Bangladesh. This should contribute to a better understanding of how key DRR stakeholders can protect children during natural disasters. Encouraging the building of long-term, child-sensitive DRR strategies is an essential part of this process.

Commentary. Health and behavior CPT codes: an opportunity to revolutionize reimbursement in pediatric psychology

Recently accepted codes in the Current Procedural Terminology system permit licensed pediatric psychologists to deliver psychological services utilizing billing codes that focus on improving medical and physical health. They potentially allow pediatric psychologists to obtain third-party reimbursement for services within a biopsychosocial model of care without requiring a concurrent psychiatric diagnosis. These codes represent a potential major paradigm shift whereby the services of a pediatric psychologist are provided and billed within the context of physical health care. Information is provided on the history of these codes along with detailed information regarding their utilization. Future directions for implementation, teaching, and research are provided along with a strong encouragement for use of these codes by pediatric psychologists.

The interface between publicly funded and industry-funded research in pediatric psychopharmacology: opportunities for integration and collaboration

Pediatric psychopharmacology research is undergoing a major expansion consequent to increasing use of psychotropic medications in children and recent legislative incentives to industry. In this rapidly changing context, the interface between publicly and privately funded research needs to be reconsidered to integrate activities and avoid unnecessary duplication of efforts. Once, by default, the almost exclusive domain of public research, child research is now increasingly funded by industry. There are, however, important issues unlikely to be addressed through private funding for which public support is needed, such as direct comparisons between active medications, between pharmacological and psychosocial interventions, or between combined and single treatment modalities; development of effective treatment strategies for patients unresponsive to first-line treatments; development of better research methods to assess efficacy and safety; identification of moderators and mechanisms of treatment response; and impact of treatment on illness course and prognosis. Industry-sponsored research is limited by the restricted access to proprietary databases, which impedes independent analyses and meta-analyses. Translation of basic neuroscience discoveries into treatment applications for children with mental illness is a critical area of inquiry that can benefit from integration of efforts and collaborations among academia, government, and industry.

Trade-offs in the conduct of economic evaluations of child mental health services

Childhood psychological morbidity places both short-term and long-term costs on families, health services, social services, voluntary organizations, and society as a whole. Internationally, there have been few economic evaluations alongside clinical trials of population-based interventions to improve child mental well-being. This paper sets out a number of trade-offs relevant to the evaluation of the costs and benefits of multisectoral interventions to improve child mental well-being. These trade-offs have relevance for those who fund research, those who conduct research, and those who make policy decisions. The paper sets out a conceptual model for the economic evaluation of population-based interventions to improve child mental health. Finally, the paper argues that with the advent of "joined up" public policy and the breakdown of traditional ring-fenced budgets for health and social care, there is now, more than ever before, an opportunity for the research community to generate guidance for multisectoral collaborative interventions to promote the mental well-being of children and their families.

Fostering the next generation of Socialists: patronirovanie in the fledgling Soviet state

This essay traces foster care policies in the SovietUnion, concentrating on the first half of Soviet rule when, due to chaos in the wake of wars, revolutions, and famine, Bolshevikle aders retreated from their original commitment to rearing orphans in public institutions. Although the Bolsheviks considered Russian peasants unsuited for raising socialist citizens, they wound up farming out parentless children to the countryside, if only to relieve pressure on Soviet orphanages. The government made a virtue of this retreat in the 1920s but ceased its propaganda campaign on behalf of foster carewhen reports of child abuse became impossible to ignore. Foster care as a practice persisted, at first because Soviet authorities still needed to wefind places for orphans, but ultimately because they recognized that, as a rule, families provided better homes than institutions. This concession paralleledWestern attitudes to foster care.