APA Updates
Free Confidential Referral Service for APA Members Introduced

Mental health professionals can submit questions about COVID-19 and bipolar disorder, major depression, and schizophrenia and receive evidence-based guidance from SMI Adviser's team of national experts within a day. Ask about medications, resources for families, telehealth options, and much more. This is a completely confidential and free service. 
APA Issues Updates on Educational CME Opportunities

APA Spring Highlights Virtual Meeting
APA is offering a live, online meeting at no cost, to help members earn CME and access essential education in psychiatry. 

Join us Saturday, April 25 and Sunday, April 26 for a complimentary, live virtual event: Spring Highlights 2020 .

Sessions include a presentation on physician leadership during times of crisis from Dr. Patrice Harris, President of the AMA; remarks from APA leadership; updates from directors of federal mental health agencies; presentations on emerging clinical topics and the rapidly changing practice of psychiatry; and more.

Earn up to 10 AMA PRA Category 1 CME Credits™ and 8 hours of MOC Part 2 Self-Assessment rediCt, and learn from psychiatry's foremost experts and leaders.  
Online Webinars

Hear from experts about how to manage different types of services, key messages to give to your team leaders, unique challenges for people with SMI, how to handle group therapy, and more.

This webinar from SMI Adviser offers an overview of how to use tele-mental health and video visits in the changing landscape of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This webinar outlines how psychiatrists can support patients, communicate with family members and children, and be a resource to other providers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pennsylvania COVID-19 Updates
Governor Wolf Unveils Plan to Reopen the Commonwealth

On April 17, 2020, Governor Wolf provided a comprehensive press conference on COVID-19 and his targeted plan to phase-in lifting the stay-at-home ban. His comprehensive approach will be completed in three phases: Relief, Reopening and Recovery. Additional details will be unveiled this week.

Click here to read the proposed plan.
PAMED Leads Effort to Protect Health Care Providers from Civil and Criminal Liability

This week, the PA Medical Society wrote a letter to Governor Wolf imploring him to initiate an executive order protecting health care workers from liability during the COVID-19 pandemic. The letter is enclosed here .
 
As part of their grassroots advocacy campaign, PAMED sent out a Call to Action solicit membership to: 1) contact the Wolf Administration to support the PAMED letter; and to 2) contact their local state House and Senate members to solicit their assistance in providing liability protections for healthcare workers. Here is a link to their Call to Action information .
 
NOTE: although this is a PAMED member-driven initiative, our Society wholeheartedly supports their efforts. The Call to Action link may not work if you are not a PAMED member. We encourage you to still contact state officials, using the PAMED letter as your template/talking points. Please let us know what you need.