The institution of the institutional practice of psychology: health care reform and psychology's future workforce

Implications for the future of professional psychology are discussed and related to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, patient-centered health care homes and accountable care organizations, and the growing importance of interprofessional competencies in health care. The need for increased information about the psychology workforce is related to the history of the institutional practice of psychology and how that data must be used to plan for the supply of psychologists required to meet the service demands of the changing health care system. Several challenges to the field of psychology are offered, along with steps that must be taken by the profession to prepare for increased institutionally based health care services in the future. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved).