News and Insights for Psychiatric Pharmacists

AAPP staff, Board, newly elected Board members, and the Foundation President-Elect are fresh off a 2-day Board retreat centered on preparing for our future members. We focused our efforts on evolving our assumptions about the future of the work of psychiatric pharmacists, considering how we can best support our members, and how we can continue to ensure AAPP thrives now and well into the future.

This free toolkit on urine drug screens provides reasons for unexpected results, expected metabolites for opiods with confirmation testing, evaluation of urine, and potential positive results with immunoassays and detection time in the urine.

From inpatient strategies and complex case management to profitability and curriculum integration, this six-part program covers everything pharmacists need to lead with confidence in LAI care. #PatientCare #LAIs #psychiatricpharmacy #CE

AAPP supports funding, access, and delivery of harm reduction services to prevent substance-use related injury, disease, overdose, and misuse. Psychiatric pharmacists are encouraged to use this policy brief to support your own advocacy efforts promoting continued delivery of harm reduction services.

The U.S. administration has continuously chipped away at public health interventions addressing substance use disorders and the opioid crisis, including vital harm-reduction activities.

Unhealthy alcohol use is highly prevalent in the United States, with almost half of all regular consumers reporting binge drinking.

Compared with varenicline alone, combination therapy was associated with statistically significantly higher abstinence rates at the longest follow-up.

The AAPP Resident and New Practitioner Committee recently completed updates to treatment guidelines and pharmacy essentials. These free resources provide references and clinical pearls for practitioners beginning to practice in psychiatry as well as treatment guidelines for anxiety and related disorders, bipolar disorder, depression, medication-induced movement disorders, schizophrenia, seizure disorders, sleep-wake disorders, and substance use disorder.

Join us for a live webinar December 3! This program will explore the impact of MDD and the challenges people may face with the disease, including residual symptoms despite antidepressant treatment. We shed light on why adjunctive treatment with an atypical antipsychotic may be considered for these patients and how the patient’s symptom profile can help shape their treatment plan. The efficacy and safety of an atypical antipsychotic treatment option are examined to understand its use as an adjunctive therapy with an antidepressant for the treatment of MDD. Click the link to learn more and register!

The National Council Medical Director Institute (MDI) has released the first-ever standardized performance benchmarks for initiation and continuation of long-acting medications for psychotic disorders, bipolar disorder, opioid use disorder and alcohol use disorder. Past President Jerry McKee represented AAPP on the expert panel while Past President Ray Love contributed as a representative of NASMHPD. Download the MDI report to learn how to implement these benchmarks in your practice.

You can submit abstracts online for the 2026 AAPP Annual Meeting from now through January 8, 2026. Accepted abstracts will be displayed during the meeting at the Hyatt Regency Bellevue in Bellevue, Washington, held April 19-22, 2026.

The helpline is a free, confidential service providing caregiver-led support, tools and strategies, trusted guidance, and connection at every stage of the caregiving journey.

Do you believe psychiatric pharmacists belong on every mental health care team? So do we. Support Outcomes Research Grants that provide the data to make that case. A monthly donation of $1,000 helps fund the next study that changes minds and opens doors. #AAPPFoundation #AdvancingPsychPharmacy

AAPP surveys show that at least 90% of successful BCPP candidates purchase the Review Book as their primary study tool. 100% of survey respondents indicate that the Review Book was their primary study resource and a key tool to their certification success! Get your book today and start studying!

We are proud to partner with the Schizophrenia & Psychosis Action Alliance to offer a 7-part, on-demand educational series! Each module tackles a core challenge in clozapine care, ranging from adverse effect management to monitoring in the post-REMS era, and use in special populations. Register today and get started!

Join us as we unravel the complexities of LAIs! Our Advanced LAI Training Program will equip participants with the tools necessary to lead, innovate, and advance LAI patient care and clinic management. #PatientCare #LAIs #psychiatricpharmacy #CE

This study examined longer-term health outcomes associated with CM treatment for StUD.

Despite widespread attention to the opioid overdose crisis, alcohol use continues to represent a pressing and under-recognized public health challenge.

GLP-1RAs, traditionally prescribed for glycemic control in T2DM and weight management in obesity, are emerging as promising therapies for ASUDs.

Targeted efforts to enhance patient knowledge of MAUD could be a promising strategy for increasing medication uptake.

In this multicenter randomized clinical trial, RI had higher retention than SI overall and in patients who tested positive for fentanyl through extended-release buprenorphine injection 2.

For the fourth time, remote prescribing of controlled substances will be allowed without permanent policy. The Trump administration appears poised to extend a temporary, Covid-era rule allowing health providers to prescribe certain controlled substances, like ADHD medications and treatments for opioid addiction, via telemedicine. Under the current rules, providers can initiate prescriptions for drugs like Ritalin or Adderall for ADHD, or buprenorphine for opioid use disorder, without first examining the patient in-person. A posting on a White House budget website, titled “Fourth Temporary Extension of COVID-19 Telemedicine Flexibilities for Prescription of Controlled Medications,” signals that the Trump administration has conceded the regulatory limbo will last at least one more year. It is unclear how the Trump administration might eventually move to finalize regulations for prescribing controlled substances via telemedicine. Among the most debated issues are whether the DEA should differentiate between Schedule II and Schedule III substances (like Ritalin and buprenorphine, respectively), and more generally, how stimulants used to treat ADHD should be regulated.

AAPP supports the use of antipsychotics as the first line treatment for acute and maintenance treatment of schizophrenia, with individual agent and route of administration selected based on patient-specific factors. Psychiatric pharmacists are encouraged to use this policy brief to support your own advocacy for this gold-standard treatment.

Pharmacists practice forensic pharmacy when they care for patients with psychiatric diagnoses who have also been convicted or charged with a crime. The practice settings often include county jails, or state/federal prisons/hospitals or correctional facilities. Pharmacists care for patients in the justice system by reviewing their medication records, making objective/subjective assessments with rating scales and patient interviews, initiating/modifying medication doses, and providing medications-related patient education. Forensic psychiatric pharmacists also can serve as expert witness for lawyers, work for regulatory agencies, or work as a freelance consultant.

This is your chance to get involved with the important work being done by AAPP committees and editorial boards. Through December 1, AAPP will be accepting applications for volunteer openings anticipated for the 2026-2027 committee year which starts March/April. Selections will be made and announced no later than January 2026 with a volunteer start date to be announced for March/April 2026. Apply today!

Despite widespread health misinformation, 83% of patients still trust their doctors most for medical advice, up from 81% last year.

Clinicians should consider systematically assessing physical function in middle-aged patients who have polypharmacy, to capture physical decline earlier in the lifespan.

This study's findings have implications for disease classification, precision medicine and clinical practice.

It is time to update the directory of Psychiatric Pharmacy Residency Programs. We want your help to self-identify if you participate in residencies. By adding your information to the site, you can raise the visibility of your program among those with a strong interest in psychiatric pharmacy. NEW fields allow you to include your recruitment open-house information.

An umbrella review of nine systematic reviews published in BMJ shows no link between maternal acetaminophen (Tylenol) use during pregnancy and autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children. The study, led by University of Liverpool researchers, involved a review of research published within the past 10 years, up to September 30, 2025, to evaluate the quality and validity of the evidence and the strength of any association between the use of acetaminophen (sold as paracetamol in many countries) during pregnancy and the risks of autism and ADHD. "The current evidence base is insufficient to definitively link in utero exposure to paracetamol with autism and ADHD in childhood," the researchers concluded. "High-quality studies that control for familial and unmeasured confounders can help improve evidence on the timing and duration of paracetamol exposure, and for other child neurodevelopmental outcomes." They recommended that regulatory agencies, clinicians, pregnant women, parents, and those affected by autism and ADHD be informed about the poor quality of the existing reviews and the likelihood that any positive associations were driven by familial confounding.

The 2024-2025 financial review is now available to members in the member center.

Toolkit on Alcohol Use Disorder with quick tips and guideline summaries: Screening/Diagnosis, Alcohol Withdrawal, Maintenance Treatment of AUD, Special Populations and Treatment, Co-occurring Disorders, Harm Reduction Strategies, Resources and References.

Through expert guidance, participants will refine their presentation skills and learn how to captivate audiences. This 2-hour program with ACPE credit provides a unique opportunity to gain practical tools to elevate speaking abilities, enhance your expertise and confidence, and make you a standout voice in the field of psychiatric pharmacy. Don't miss this opportunity to learn!

Dr. Kelly Gable, PharmD, BCPP, gives tips on starting a new practice.

This 2-hour webinar focuses on developing appropriate techniques for answering standardized questions more accurately, identifying common issues in testing that may be hurting your performance, and analyzing your testing performance to improve accuracy, pacing, and endurance. Level up your test-taking skills!

In the past year, the AAPP Foundation has awarded over $70,000 in grant funding and project support. These funds have supported initiatives that expand practice, build evidence, and improve psychiatric pharmacy services. Join us in sustaining this critical work. #AAPPFoundation #AdvancingPsychPharmacy

Improve your peer review skills! Discover the components to evaluate, the role of the peer reviewer, the skills necessary to critically evaluate a manuscript, and how to provide feedback to authors and journal editors.

AAPP and the AAPP Foundation are pleased to be offering a complimentary, 2-hour workshop: Cultivating Expertise: Enhancing Presentation Design and Speaker Development in Psychiatric Pharmacists. Earn ACPE credit and make yourself a standout voice in the field of psychiatric pharmacy!

To address provider cash-flow issues resulting from the expiration of Medicare telehealth flexibilities on Oct. 1, CMS announced Nov. 6 that they will return affected claims submitted on or before Nov. 10 and enable providers to resubmit them with expanded coding that clearly demonstrates eligibility under current law. CMS has been processing claims where eligibility is clear (e.g., behavioral/mental health or specified HCPCS codes), but systems limitations have prevented identification of all payable claims, including some ACO services and behavioral health claims without specific diagnosis codes. To address this, CMS will return held telehealth claims submitted on or before November 10, 2025, for dates of service on or after October 1, 2025. Providers can resubmit these claims following statutory requirements. Providers are directed to updated instructions on the CMS website for resubmission guidance.

Pharmacy careers change lives. Learn if a job as a pharmacist is right for you and how you can help people live better, healthier lives. #Pharmacy #PsychPharm

AAPP supports access to antidepressants for youth with moderate to severe symptoms of a depressive, anxiety, or obsessive-compulsive-based disorder and reconsideration of the boxed warning on new-onset suicidal thoughts/behaviors given its many unintended consequences and role in accelerating stigma. Psychiatric pharmacists are encouraged to use this policy brief to support your own advocacy for this gold-standard treatment.

The 2026 Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) final rule was released late last week by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS). The rule makes direct supervision via telehealth permanent for many services. Additionally, it extends audio-only flexibilities for certain non-behavioral health visits through December 31, 2026. It also proposes new add-on codes for behavioral health integration services within Advanced Primary Care Management (APCM) programs. Please note that the rule does retains some COVID-19-era telehealth restrictions, such as the originating site requirement for certain services. We are pleased that these final provisions overall reflect AAPP’s comments to strengthen behavioral health integration in primary care and expand telehealth flexibilities.

AAPP joined more than 450 organizations in pushing congressional leaders to reinstate lapsed telehealth flexibilities for the long term. Lawmakers have been providing temporary extensions to telehealth policies that, among other flexibilities, allow Medicare beneficiaries to receive medical care in their homes. The policies started during the Covid-19 pandemic, and Congress continued them but never made them permanent. “This cycle of temporary fixes has resulted in patients and providers facing continued disruptions in care,” the groups, co-led by the Alliance for Connected Care, wrote to House and Senate leaders.

AAPP members Andrew Hean, PharmD, APh, BCPS, BCPP, and Winter Roth, PharmD, BCPP, authored this article in the Journal of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy.