Health Policy Fact: If a legislator does not hear from you about an issue they think the issue is not important to nurse practitioners.
Your representative is a person – like us – who was elected to listen to our concerns, especially as it affects the people in their district. They are elected to work for us. Make the Ask by saying, “this is the way you can help people in your district to have better health care and there is no money involved.”
Hello colleagues: This is an update to the policy legislative development regarding the two issues 1. NPs signing the death certificate; 2. DOT accepting NPs assessments:
1. An act allowing nurse practitioners to sign the death certificate
a. Passed out of the House subcommittee now HF 393 (was HSB 25)
b. Passed out of Senate subcommittee SSB 1039 just last week and has not been assigned a bill number yet
1. There was an amendment, acceptable to the Iowa Nurse Practitioner Health Policy Committee (INPHPC), to require training of NPs to sign the death certificate
c. When the bill has passed to a bill in both chambers (Senate and House) it will be debated on the floor of both. The House will need to align HF 393 to accept the amendment by the Senate to be debated on the floor.
d. TALKING POINTS (use all or some – customize):
1. Iowa has 1,646 nurse practitioners Iowa who are licensed to provide care independently without physician supervision.
2. An informal survey of 100 NPs at the INPS Fall 2010 conference indicated over half report needing to fill out the content of the death certificate for their patients and then find a physician to sign it.
3. Funeral home directors, especially rural based, report delays in returning paperwork to the state because of the delay in finding a physician who will sign the death certificate. This is an economic issue.
4. As the patient’s primary care provider of record, signing the death certificate will help to increase the timeliness and accuracy of vital stat reporting.
5. Allowing all primary care providers to continue the care of their for patients, including the deceased, will streamline the process for the families during their time of grief and assist funeral directors by eliminating the barriers of delayed paperwork.
6. ARNPs frequently are the only provider to some individuals and best know the cause of death
7. Sixteen states allow for ARNPs to sign death certificates with no reported adverse outcome or inaccuracies in reporting.
There is great opposition to this from the medical community.
PLEASE contact your legislator in your area and tell her/him that you are in support of this bill. See below how to find and contact your legislator.
If you would – customize your email to a personal experience or the experience of a NP colleague you know is affected by this.
2. An act to allowing the Department of Transportation (DOT) to accept reports from APNs that renders a person incompetent to operate a motor vehicle
a. HF / SF149
1. The Medical Society has been neutral on this issue and not formally opposing this bill. That makes it equally important you tell your legislator that you support this bill
b. TALKING POINTS:
1. Federal regulation allows NPs to make this determination already.
2. If the DOT questions a decision by an NP it would go to the same physician review panel that does a physician decision under question.
Last but not Least: Please shoot an email to Joe Kelly who works with our legislators at the Capitol so he knows who has been contacted jkelly@amha.org
Feel free to contact me at cmkelleynp@netins.net for any questions – please act on these important bills.