Health Policy and Legislative news--time sensitive

I hope everyone is having a great fall. Please read the announcements below. Please note that the deadline for the provider survey described in the first announcement is NOVEMBER 7.

1. The State of Georgia is evaluating and redesigning the Medicaid and CHIP programs. As part of the evaluation of the current system, the Deprtment of Community Health  has posted an online survey.  This is a golden opportunity for the 4700+ Nurse Practitioners in Georgia to voice our concerns about access and quality of care for our patient's and raise the awareness of the care we provide with policy makers. There are four different surveys available: providers; vendors; consumers; advocates.  Please complete the provider survey yourself, and forward this message to as many others in the above caegories that you can. Please note that this survey is only open until NOVEMBER 7.  Please do not pass on this opportunity for us to make our voices heard!  Here is the link: http://dch.georgia.gov/00/channel_title/0,2094,31446711_175712415,00.html
2. We need to identify physicians and radiologists who would support the removal of the "in life threatening emergencies" restriction on APRN's ordering radiological tests (MRI's CT scans, etc)  found in the 2006 Prescriptive Authority statute and work with the Georgia Radiological Society  to gain their support prior to the opening of the 2012 legislative session in January. I am asking for 3 things:  One, Please send me the name and contact information of any physicians in your institutions who would support this; two, send me a short paragraph describing how this restriction affects quality, time, cost, delay and inconvenience to patients and your institutions and what "work arounds" your institutions have adopted around this issue; third, please open the following link to the leadership Board of the Georgia Radiological Society and let me know of any relationships you our your physician colleagues might have whith any of these individuals: www.thegrs.org/roster.html
3. The Georgia Board of Medicine has posted a proposed rule change regarding "unprofessional conduct". It can be found at this link: www.medicalboard.georgia.gov. While aimed primarily at the issue of prescription drug abuse, it could have ramifications for APRN's in acute care settings with pain management and discharge planning functions. Please read (the potentially APRN significant content is toward the end) and contact me with any concerns if this would have an impact in your practice setting.

As always, I look forward to your responses. I can be reached at:

laurafsearcy@gmail.com

678-886-450

Have a great and safe Thanksgiving

The survey will close by November 7th so time is ticking away.