Gabriel,
I agree with you that there needs to be a response to CMS leaving us out. However, our own nursing organizations also need to ALL respond loud and clear about the Psych APRN. When the CNS was removed from this group that caused a lot of damage.
I practiced as an APRN for almost 20 yrs with CMS reimbursement. However I was reimbursed at a lower rate than most APRNs because I filed with my own #. Since very few APRNs do this, CMS probably thinks there aren't very many of us out there. I was in a collaborative practice before we had collaborative practice forms, and I had social workers calling me often telling me I couldn't practice the way I was. Since outpatient psych clinics has more often been the social worker domain there are many, many who don't even know what we are qualified to do and do it very well with our pharmacology experience as well.
Dee Matzker PMHCNS-BC
St. Louis, MO.