SPECIAL COVERAGE: Healthcare Reform
Nurses and other members of the public still have time to make their voices heard as congressional debate over healthcare legislation intensifies in the coming weeks. Now is the time for nurses to call their senators and representatives and give their opinions on proposed healthcare reform, using specific examples from their practices to support their positions, if possible, says Pat Ford-Roegner RN, MSW, FAAN, CEO of the American Academy of Nursing.
Nurses need to make congressional representatives understand the importance of their work, both in the current system and in a reformed system with increased focus on patient-centered care, prevention and wellness, says Cynthia Haney, JD, senior policy fellow for the American Nurses Association.
Some important proposals of specific interest to nurses in current legislation before the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives include:
• A national strategy to improve care for people with chronic illness, provide patient-centered care, reduce disparities among various groups, improve health outcomes, and coordinate care to reduce duplication.
• Provisions to establish community health teams to support medical homes, patient-centered coordinated care that uses an interdisciplinary team of health professionals and community resources, contracted through a primary care provider. Nurse policy experts and lobbyists support the concept, but would like to see more specific language allowing the coordinator of a medical home to be an advance-practice nurse or physician assistant as well as a primary care physician.
• Ways to increase the number and diversity of healthcare providers and educators, including nurses, mostly through loan and scholarship programs already in existence. Nursing groups also are working to include funding specifically for advance practice nursing education and clinical training, much the way funds for physician training are provided through Medicare.
• Expanding community clinics, especially to help provide healthcare to people in rural and inter-urban areas. The Senate Health committee bill specifically establishes grants for nurse-run and school-based clinics; the House is considering separate legislation supporting nurse-run and school-based clinics that may eventually be folded into a final plan.
• Reforms to increase efficiency and improve effectiveness through reducing errors and holding facilities more accountable for mistakes resulting in hospital readmission, as well as rewarding and encouraging through grants hospital discharge planning, including patient-centered education and counseling, and follow-up care to reduce readmissions.
• A new Patient Safety Research Center to evaluate and determine the best and safest practices for medication management and other aspects of patient care, and to dispense grants to help teach and implement these practices.
• Prevention programs, including a National Prevention, Health Promotion, and Public Health Council to coordinate and promote preventive and integrative healthcare in the country, and a task force to review scientific evidence showing the effectiveness of prevention programs. The bills also provide grants for community-based prevention efforts and a public-private partnership for a health promotion campaign to encourage healthy behaviors, educate about available preventative services, and provide general health information.
• An investment fund to provide an additional $10 billion a year for public health.
• Authorization for permanent national offices of women’s health within the Department of Health and Human Services.
• A national voluntary insurance program to help subscribers pay for independent living assistance services, including nursing support.
A new online tutorial from Kaiser Family Foundation explains the healthcare reform legislation process and key players: www.kaiseredu.org/tutorials/reformprocess/player.html.
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To comment, e-mail editorNTL@gannetthg.com.
http://news.nurse.com/article/20090728/NAT...
Nurses need to make congressional representatives understand the importance of their work, both in the current system and in a reformed system with increased focus on patient-centered care, prevention and wellness, says Cynthia Haney, JD, senior policy fellow for the American Nurses Association.
Some important proposals of specific interest to nurses in current legislation before the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives include:
• A national strategy to improve care for people with chronic illness, provide patient-centered care, reduce disparities among various groups, improve health outcomes, and coordinate care to reduce duplication.
• Provisions to establish community health teams to support medical homes, patient-centered coordinated care that uses an interdisciplinary team of health professionals and community resources, contracted through a primary care provider. Nurse policy experts and lobbyists support the concept, but would like to see more specific language allowing the coordinator of a medical home to be an advance-practice nurse or physician assistant as well as a primary care physician.
• Ways to increase the number and diversity of healthcare providers and educators, including nurses, mostly through loan and scholarship programs already in existence. Nursing groups also are working to include funding specifically for advance practice nursing education and clinical training, much the way funds for physician training are provided through Medicare.
• Expanding community clinics, especially to help provide healthcare to people in rural and inter-urban areas. The Senate Health committee bill specifically establishes grants for nurse-run and school-based clinics; the House is considering separate legislation supporting nurse-run and school-based clinics that may eventually be folded into a final plan.
• Reforms to increase efficiency and improve effectiveness through reducing errors and holding facilities more accountable for mistakes resulting in hospital readmission, as well as rewarding and encouraging through grants hospital discharge planning, including patient-centered education and counseling, and follow-up care to reduce readmissions.
• A new Patient Safety Research Center to evaluate and determine the best and safest practices for medication management and other aspects of patient care, and to dispense grants to help teach and implement these practices.
• Prevention programs, including a National Prevention, Health Promotion, and Public Health Council to coordinate and promote preventive and integrative healthcare in the country, and a task force to review scientific evidence showing the effectiveness of prevention programs. The bills also provide grants for community-based prevention efforts and a public-private partnership for a health promotion campaign to encourage healthy behaviors, educate about available preventative services, and provide general health information.
• An investment fund to provide an additional $10 billion a year for public health.
• Authorization for permanent national offices of women’s health within the Department of Health and Human Services.
• A national voluntary insurance program to help subscribers pay for independent living assistance services, including nursing support.
A new online tutorial from Kaiser Family Foundation explains the healthcare reform legislation process and key players: www.kaiseredu.org/tutorials/reformprocess/player.html.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To comment, e-mail editorNTL@gannetthg.com.
http://news.nurse.com/article/20090728/NAT...
