American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry

The American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry was formed to: -Promote accessibility to highest quality treatment for all who need it; -Promote excellence in clinical practice in addiction psychiatry; -Educate the public to influence public policy regarding addictive illness; -Provide continuing education for addiction professionals; -Disseminate new information in the field of addiction psychiatry; and -Encourage research on the etiology, prevention, identification, and treatment of the addictions

Issues of general interest to the membership include: -Assuring that new discoveries, research findings and technologies in the area of addictions become available to patients and are applied to clinical practice -With comorbidity at approximately 50%, assuring that every patient with an addictive disorder has a psychiatric evaluation to assure accuracy of diagnosis and proper treatment -Exploring the relationships of addiction psychiatrists to reimbursement systems, to managed care and to third and fourth party payers -Maintenance of quality control and risk management in an era emphasizing cost containment -Relationship between psychiatrists and primary care physicians in treating the addicted as well as dually diagnosed patient -Support for adequate research funding in the addictions