Legislative Update - 1-30-2012
There is good news and bad news to report on the national healthy policy front. The good news is the PPACA (Patient Protection Affordable Care Act) authorizes nurse practitioners to perform the required “face-to-face” visits for Medicare patients requiring home health care services. The bad news is that a physician must still sign an authorization for the home health services. There are two bills in the House and Senate (HR 2267 and S 227) designed to change that. Currently there are 78 cosponsors in the House and 13 cosponsors in the Senate. You can look to see if your legislators are cosponsors by looking on the AANP website (follow the Legislative/Practice and then Federal Legislation links). Contact your legislators to either thank them if they have shown support or encourage them to support this important legislation. Failure to pass this legislation will result in: delay of necessary health care services for patients, increase the administrative burden and costs associated with multiple providers being required to order simple home health services, and foster continued barriers to NP practice. Use the link on the right on this web page to see who your legislative members are and keep them up to date with the needs of your patients and your clinical experiences. Thank you for taking action to improve health care and services for patients!
Respectfully submitted,
Kathy Poduslo, DNP, RN, CNP, CCRN
ASMNP Legislative Committee
Legislative Update 10-7-2010
On Wednesday, Oct. 6th, 2010 a national teleconference for state delegates was held to discuss legislative issues both nationally and within each state. In Minnesota the Board of Nursing is moving forward to adopt the APRN Consensus Model (document link: https://www.ncsbn.org/FINAL_Consensus_Report_070708_w._Ends_013009.pdf ) and to eliminate the requirement of a Collaborative Practice agreement for Advanced Practice Nurses.
On a national note, this is an excitisng time for nursing. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) has come out with a document that is entitled “The Future of Nursing: Leading Change in Advancing Health”. You can access this document through this link http://www.rwjf.org/humancapital/product.jsp?id=69909 . The four main cornerstones of this document include: 1) Nurses should practice to the full extent of their education and training, 2) Nurses should achieve higher levels of education and training through an improved education system that promotes seamless academic progression, 3) Nurses should be full partners, with physicians and other health care professionals, in redesigning health care in the United States, and 4) Effective workforce planning and policy making require better data collection and an improved information structure. These recommendations were designed for all of nursing, however, key aspects pertain to Nurse Practitioners as a whole. The first cornerstone, which has strong implications for NP practice, is regarding the topic of “practice to the full extent of their education and training”. The IOM identified state regulation of NP practices in some states restricts them from being able to practice to their full extent and that these barriers to practice should be removed. The second major area of impact for NP practice is the forth cornerstone regarding data collection and information. By allowing NPs to fully practice as independent providers and bill accordingly, outcome data could be collected and the pay for performance process could include all provider types. There are many other areas where NP practice will be enhanced through the recommendations outlined by the IOM. Watch for more information and rebuttal on these recommendations to come out in the weeks and months to follow. Keep your eyes open and do what you can to get involved in making these changes a reality.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathy Poduslo, DNP, RN, CNP, CCRN
ASMNP Legislative Chair
Contact Your Legislator
Link to Minnesota State Legislature to track bills or contact your legislator: http://www.leg.state.mn.us/