The American Board of Emergency Medicine and the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology advocated for the designation, according to a Feb. 26 news release.
A focused practice designation allows boards to access and set standards for physicians who have concentrated their practice on a particular specialty or subspecialty, according to the American Board of Medical Specialties.
The new focused designation will be available to interested emergency physicians and psychiatrists, according to the release.
“The mental health crisis in the US and its lack of access to [emergency behavioral health] care creates a tremendous urgency for advanced knowledge. This is a step toward making improvements to this critical need for a unique skill set,” said Diane Gorgas, MD, president of the American Board of Emergency Medicine.
