The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is the largest U.S. professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists. Its mission is to advance the psychiatric profession, promote quality patient care and mental health, support psychiatric research and education, develop clinical practice guidelines (including publication of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), and advocate on behalf of patients and psychiatrists before government and payers.
Advocacy on mental health parity and insurance coverage, Medicare and Medicaid payment and coverage for behavioral health, workforce and residency funding, telepsychiatry and licensure/telehealth policy, public mental health funding and suicide prevention, substance use disorder treatment policy, clinical practice standards and evidence-based care, privacy and confidentiality rules affecting psychiatric practice, and research and federal mental health research funding
Primarily funded through member dues and fees, revenue from annual meetings and continuing medical education programs, publications and journal subscriptions, plus grants, donations and foundation/corporate partnerships
American Psychiatric Association Foundation (APAF), the American Psychiatric Association Political Action Committee (APAPAC), state and territorial psychiatric societies, academic psychiatry departments and major psychiatric journals such as the American Journal of Psychiatry
Nonprofit professional medical association (organized as a 501(c)(6) organization) representing psychiatrists and psychiatric trainees
