Affordable Care Act and Advance Practice Nurse

As the burden of mental illness grows in the United States, recent data show that many in need of behavioral health services are not currently receiving them. Recent passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has presented an opportunity to change the delivery of behavioral health care to a consumer-driven, evidence-based model geared toward the coordination of care within the primary care setting. Psychiatric-mental health clinical nurse specialist/nurse practitioners are in an ideal position to deliver cost-effective behavioral health care in collaboration with primary care providers under the new patient-centered medical home model of care...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this first of a three-article series is to provide context and justification for a new paradigm of case management built upon a value-driven foundation that PRIMARY PRACTICE SETTING(S): Applicable to all health care sectors where case management is practiced. FINDINGS/CONCLUSIONS: In moving forward, the one fact that rings true is there will be constant change in our industry. As the health care terrain shifts and new influences continually surface, there will be consequences for case management practice...

This bimonthly department, sponsored by the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE), presents information to assist nurse leaders in shaping the future of healthcare through creative and innovative leadership. The strategic priorities of AONE anchor the editorial content. They reflect contemporary healthcare and nursing practice issues that challenge nurse executives as they strive to meet the needs of patients.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

The Office of Inspector General (OIG), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in a 2009 report, showed that unqualified nonphysicians performed 21% of the services. These nonphysicians did not possess the necessary licenses, certifications, credentials, or training to perform the services. Since the time the medical profession was founded, advances in treatments and technology, as well as educational and training standards, have promoted a desire to go beyond the basic scope of practice. Many have sought to broaden the scope of practice through legislative efforts and proclamation rather than education and training...

Interprofessional collaboration was essential for the conduct of research that demonstrated the effectiveness and significance of advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) in providing care, in reducing health care costs, and in developing innovative models of care for the nation's citizens. If the 2010 Affordable Care Act is to be implemented, APRNs, with their expertise and numbers, are essential to its implementation. Continued interdisciplinary collaboration is needed to expand the scope of APRN state practice regulations, to change reimbursement for APRN services, and to mute opposition to these changes by medical organizations...

Health care is transforming at a rapid pace. Nurses should be leading change and advancing health in this increasingly complex health system. The multiple systemic health care changes occurring secondary to the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act make this an optimal time for full use of nurse practitioners (NPs). This article describes the evolution and future of the NP role, explores the practice in relation to regulation and policy; primary care; acute care; international, global, and cultural issues; and public image, and addresses how NPs must prepare for changing health care environments and consumer demands...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

This column outlines some of the challenges and opportunities for nurses in the coming years. Implications for nursing practice and education are highlighted.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: The move to the Accountable Care Organization model of care calls for broad-sweeping structural, operational, and cultural changes in our health care systems. The use of predictive modeling as part of the discharge process is used as a way to highlight just one of the common processes that will need to be transformed to maximize reimbursement under the Accountable Care Organization model. The purpose of this article is to summarize what has been learned about predictive modeling from the population health management industry perspective, to discuss how that knowledge might be applied to discharge planning in the Accountable Care Organization model of patient care, and then to outline how the Accountable Care Organization environment presents various challenges, opportunities, and implications for the case management role...

Spring 2010 marked the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; however, soon after this landmark legislation passed, legal and political challenges ensued to change key features of the law. In this environment of proposed changes to transform the U.S. health care system, the Institute of Medicine released its report titled The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health in October 2010. The groundbreaking consensus report calls for a transformation of nursing at practice, education, and leadership levels...

With the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, interdisciplinary fights are becoming more public with more to come. Currently, the most visible fight is over scope of practice (SOP) expansion, state laws that govern advanced practice nursing and vary idiosyncratically by state. Until there is an expansion of SOP, APNs in many states will not be able to provide services to the fullest extent of their training and knowledge, skills, and experience and patients will continue to go without care...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.