What's Happening at VTMHCA

Spring 2007 News

2006 President's Welcome
Don Rhoades, MA LCMHC

VTMHCA's mission in the past 5 years has been to promote our licensure to ensure that we may practice in a free market place. As an organization, we have been busy promoting our work politically, as well as, facilitating important changes. Although we cannot list all of our accomplishments, the Board would like to tell you a little bit about what has been happening this past year. Read more...

Vermont AMHCA Chapter Launches
Mental Health Disaster Relief Registry

AMHCA  Director-At-Large, Peter Mahar, has announced the formation of the Vermont Mental Health Disaster Relief Registry. Mahar stated at the launch, "This represents the first step in a multi-faceted campaign designed to both increase disaster relief preparedness and to demonstrate the importance of mental health counseling as a profession." For a start, 550 Vermont Licensed Mental Health Counselors received registration forms.

The purpose of the Registry is to have a system and a resource for referrals from disaster relief agencies in place for disaster survivors, their loved ones and those who provide services in shelters and on site.

AMHCA President-Elect Gary G. Gintner, PhD. has praised the Registry as, "a great initiative and worthy of national notice."  The Registry was launched during Mental Health Counseling Week (May 1-7).

Information and updates regarding Hurricane Katrina can be found at the American Mental Health Counselor's website.

December 6, 2005

David Fassler, M.D.
Vermont Psychiatric Association
86 Lake Street
Burlington , Vermont 05401

Dear Dr. Fassler:

In response to your inquiry of November 18 the Department has long held that any reviewer responsible for issuing an adverse determination must be an appropriately licensed professional. That includes requiring that the reviewer be licensed in the State of Vermont. To be specific, our position rests on the following statutory and regulatory language:

I. A review agent must use licensed mental health care providers to conduct review services (section 8, Regulation 95-2);

2. A review agent must use licensed mental health care providers who are licensed in Vermont, unless the reviewing providers are under the supervision and control of a Vermont licensed provider (see definition of provider, 8 VSA 4089a(b)(2).

3. A review agent must use a provider who is licensed in Vermont to discharge the statutory responsibility of making an evaluation, findings and concurrence of a decision to deny coverage or pre- certification as required under 8 VSA 4089(c)(3).

While the number of Vermont licensed providers a mental health review agent engages will depend on its organization and the size of its operation, at least one Vermont licensed provider must be employed, or serving as a consulting physician, who is capable of discharging the responsibility of providing an evaluation, finding and concurrence in the event of a decision to deny coverage for care. In addition, if a review agent uses personnel who are licensed, but not in Vermont , then at least one provider must be engaged who is licensed in Vermont to supervise and direct such personnel. This means, for example, that a psychiatrist licensed in Vermont must be available to conduct reviews, and if screening personnel (typically RN's) are not licensed in Vermont, then there must be direct supervision of such screening personnel by a Vermont licensed mental health care provider.

Further, the Department requires that, consistent with professional standards in the field, the review agency must have a medical director with a direct patient care post-residency who is responsible for oversight of the IJM program, and if the medical director is not a psychiatrist, there must be at least one consulting psychiatrist with board certification in psychiatry who is licensed (in the State of Vermont) readily available to support the clinical review staff.

I hope this addresses your question. Please contact me if you want further clarification.

John P. Crowley
Commissioner

cc: Edward P. Smith, Jr., D.P.M., Chair
Board of Medical Practice
Christopher D. Winters, Director
Office of Professional Regulation