Ohio Health Policy Review

Mansfield public health program a model for federal reform provision

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown visited Mansfield this week to highlight the work of the Community Health Access Project, a county health worker program that serves as a model for a provision in the federal health reform legislation that passed in March  (Source: “Local program a model for nation,” (Mansfield) News Journal, July 7, 2010).

Started in Mansfield in 1999, CHAP was expanded to rural Knox County in 2000 and involves facilitating visits by county health workers to populations that experiences high rates of low-birthweight babies. The program estimates that in its first three years of operation, the number of low-birthweight babies in the region declinded 22.7 percent.

Sen. Brown pushed for inclusion of a grant program in the federal legislation that will fund programs modeled after CHAP.

US Rep. LaTourette introduces nurse staffing bill

Federal legislation that would regulate nurse staffing level has been co-introduced by U.S. Rep. Steven C. LaTourette (R-Bainbridge Township) (Source: “Legislation aims to improve patient care,” (Willoughby) News-Herald, July 2, 2010).

The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2010, HR 5527, would require health care facilities to work with nursing staff to implement a system to ensure appropriate nurse staffing levels. The legislation would help health care facilities reach safe nurse staffing levels, so nurses do not handle too many patients and are not worked to the point of exhaustion, said LaTourette, who co-chairs the U.S. House of Representatives Nursing Caucus.

"Our nurses do a Herculean job and they juggle many patients and tasks and provide excellent care," he said. "We have to be more diligent to make sure nurses are not overextended and leave the field from unsustainable working conditions and stress."

 

PCP shortage looms in rural Ohio

Given the anticipated increase in newly insured Ohioans starting in 2014 because of federal health reform, the current shortage in primary care doctors in rural Ohio is likely to be exacerbated, according to officials at the American Association of Medical Colleges (Source: “Rural Ohio facing doctor shortage,” Mansfield News-Journal, May 24, 2010).

However, the AAMC’s Center for Workforce Studies director Ed Salsberg says he is optimistic that proposals in the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will, over time, increase the number of primary care providers in underserved areas of the state.

"I do expect to see that growth, but I do want to be clear that it's going to be a challenge," he said, "and a greater challenge for rural and poorer communities."

Ohio House OKs prescription authority for APNs

The Ohio House of Representatives last week passed, by an 85-13 margin, a bill that would allow advanced practice nurses to prescribe Schedule II controlled substances including oxycodone, Ritalin and morphine (Source: “Ohio House gives nurses more prescription drug authority,” MedCity News, May 20, 2010).

Ohio joins more than 30 states that have laws allowing APNs to prescribe medications. Currently, nurse can only prescribe one day’s worth of Schedule II drugs, and only if the medication had previously been prescribed by a doctor.

Ohio Congressman introduces bill aimed at retaining health care workers

U.S. Rep. Zack Space of Dover has introduced a bill that would require the Secretary of Health and  Human Services to draft a strategic plan to retrain existing displaced workers to fill a demand for skilled health care professionals (Source: “New bill would retain workers in health care,” Chillicothe Gazette, March 10, 2010).

The strategic plan the legislation calls for would involve an assessment, to be completed within nine monthes of passage, of existing programs, followed by use of grant funding to implement recommendations in the report.

New state law aims to attract more advanced practice nurses to Ohio

New legislation that is set to take effect this year is expected to make Ohio more attractive for advance practice nurses looking to relocate (Source: “New Ohio law to help advanced practice nurses move into the Buckeye State,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, Jan. 4, 2010).

Senate Bill 89 permits out-of-state nurses who already have received training and are authorized to write prescriptions for some drugs to do the same in Ohio without completing and additional training here. The bill was sponsored by Democratic State Sen. Sue Morano, a registered nurse from Lorain, and was unanimously approved by the Senate and was signed by Gov. Strickland last week.

In November, the Health Policy Institute of Ohio released a white paper, The Future of the Nursing Workforce in Ohio (pdf, 24 pages), that outlines the nursing shortage anticipated in Ohio by 2020. With a projected shortage of 29 percent, or 32,000 nurses, Ohio is one of three states — along with California and Texas – that has the largest gaps and needs for nurses and nursing students, according to a study by Cleveland-based Center for Health Affairs.