Health Care Analysis on Policy Number SB 1352 - Essay Example

Health Care analysis on policy number SB 1352 Introduction Florida health care sector is facing a policy change that will affect the Health Care Practitioners in the county. Senator Grimsley proposed the sb1352 bill but as a medical practitioner, it is vital to find out how the policy change will affect this profession (Grimsley, 2014). This policy change in particular is aimed at the Nursing professions who provide services to patients like drug prescriptions. Briefly, the policy change was introduced so as to amend S. 110.12315 and proposes expansion on those who prescribe brand drugs. The county has a drug prescription program that influences how health practitioners administer drugs to their patients and excludes prescription of substances recommended by advanced registered nurses. Thus, the paper analyses the policy by looking at the legislative findings and declarations as well as those regulations that may affect the implementation of the bill. Finally, the analysis makes a detailed recommendation on how effective the policy should be implemented so as to improve the nursing profession. Overview of the SB CS/SB 1352 The bill first makes changes to some terminologies in the nursing profession, for example, changing the name from simply psychiatric nurse to psychiatric-mental health advanced practice registered nurse and such nurses must hold specified national certification (Grimsley, 2014). This gives the nurses power to authorise the release or examination of an individual patient. Besides, the amendment also prohibits nurses from denying the patients access to the substances they were abusing before especially if their medications have been prescribed by advanced and registered nurses. Therefore, the bill allows patients to continue receiving their portions of substance abuse materials if advanced nurses have approved them to do so. Under such circumstances, normal hospital nurses cannot deny patients access to the substances they were abusing though the provision of such substances must be according to the instructions of the advanced nurses. Amendments in section 456.013 and 456.031 make a change in nursing training and education by stipulating the timeframe for completing such training (Grimsley, 2014). Other amendments concerns relate to continuous HIV and AIDS education where medical practitioners will receive specified licensees. Proposed amendments on section 456.072 state the penalties that apply if there is a violation on prescriptions of the substances as per the advanced registered nurse instructions (Grimsley, 2014). Besides, it also requires the advanced nurses to designate and specify how patients will use these controlled substances that are used as pain relievers. Such prescription must comply with the registration requirements and also follow the recommended standards of medical practice. The bill also gives advanced registered nurses the authority of dispensing, administering and ordering drugs according to any specified formula. Thus, the Nursing Board must appoint a particular committee with the task of determining if there is a need to establish a formulary (Lavoie & Fleet, 2002). Legislative findings and regulations Section 110.12315 establishes Prescription drug program. The Department of Management Services will administer this program in accordance to conditions established by the General Appropriations Act (Grimsley, 2014). The department shall establish reimbursement program for the prescription pharmaceuticals that have been dispensed under this program. Reimbursement rates must be according on the drug’s generic equivalent. Section 2 of the amendment 310.071 concerns deputy pilot certification. Thus, applicants must have good mental and physical health by providing physical examination evidence carried out by a qualified and licensed physician. The rules of passing the test shall be established by the medical practitioners’ board. Section 394.463 concerns involuntary examination. It can be initiated by a court if that compels an individual to such medical examination. Besides, any officer has the power to take an individual for an examination in the nearest medical examination facility. Besides, any medical practitioner can provide a certificate of examination within 48 hours concluding that a person has met the involuntary examination criteria by stating the observation that prompts such an observation. Section 357.502 concerns the right of an individual and stipulates that service providers must ensure non-discrimination services to the substance abusers (Grimsley, 2014). They will receive such services irrespective of their race, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation and HIV and AIDS status. The proposed financial regulations on the Bill Section 456.053 concerns the financial arrangements between the referral and the real health care providers. This section prohibits referrals and payment claims and the following regulations apply Any health care provider must not refer patients to places they have investment interest unless such investment interest is traded in the national securities exchange, and total assets of the entities most recent financial quarter exceeds $50M (Grimsley, 2014). Besides, the public health corporations must not provide a loan to any person who has an investment interest in with it. If the corporation is not publicly owned, an individual’s investment interest is constrained to less than 50% investment value if he or she is to make referrals to such an entity (Grimsley, 2014). Besides, investment terms must be the same both for individuals who may make referrals to the entity or not. Section 456.057 concerns the ownership and management of the patient records, reports and information disclosure (Grimsley, 2014). Duplication of records must be charged at actual prices as specified by the Board. The rates must be same for written and typed records regardless of their formats. Previous regulations that influenced the bill Some of the house bills that influenced drug prescriptions for nurses include: House bill 1381 aimed at revising provisions in relations to dispensing control substance information and the funding requirements. This would give the go ahead to review patient information before administering the substance (NCSL, 2014). House bill 7177 aimed at revising on the exemption of certain information when prescription was at monitoring stage. Also specified conditions of disclosing information for investigation purposes (NCSL, 2014). Senate bill 866 that amended the law so as to strengthen personal data security (NCSL, 2014). This required law enforcers to have court orders before receiving such confident information. Key stakeholders affected by the proposed policy change The Florida senate has a bigger role in the issue at stake as senator Grimsley is proposing a policy change. Changes pertain to drug prescription, and they see it as a way of reducing drug prescription deaths. Other stakeholders include the law enforcers who to take individuals for involuntary medical examination. In their view, they can take anyone for non-voluntary medical examination any time. The Nursing Board of Florida also has a part to play since they view establishment of drug prescription formulary to control prescriptions and give patients the right to access substances they were abusing before. Factors that may affect the state holder decisions The bill is clear on the issue of referrals and ensures that health officials must not refer patients to entities that they have investment interests. Therefore, investment interest is an economic factor that will influence health professionals’ decisions. For instance, they can only refer patients to entities of their investment interest if such investments are traded in the national securities exchange, and total assets of the entities most recent financial quarter exceed $50M. A legal issue to consider is the court order that compels the disclosure of patient records. Besides, legal obligations make health professionals liable for charges if they wrongly prescribe drugs to patients. Moreover, ethical issues like information disclosure will attract penalties, and they must ensure that there is non-discriminatory health examination (Corley et al. 2005). A social factor that may influence the bill is the need to provide good healthcare service to the community through sound nursing practices. Politically, the senate has a huge influence on health policies and health sector is prone to interference from the federal government. The following statistics shows some trends in deaths from drug abuse resulting from poor prescription: There is one reported death after every 19 minutes in USA due to wrong prescriptions. In 2007, the country recorded 27,000 deaths (Department of Health & Human Services, 2014). The graph below shows an increase in drug poisoning since 1980; it increases as compared to motor vehicle deaths. This trend has prompted the federal government to take action and explains why there are strict legislation being enacted on drug prescription. The increasing death rate from drug prescription is the main reason behind enactment of this legislation. Source: Department of Health & Human Services (2014) Recommendations/implications of the policy change nursing information It is highly recommendable that the prescription of drugs is expanded to the nurses, but it can be limited to situations where advanced and registered nurses prescribe different procedures for the drugs (Lavoie & Fleet, 2002). On the other hand, there is a need to develop a formula for administering substances of abuse so as to reduce deaths that have been recorded in Florida in the past years. Nurses should not deny patients substances they were abusing before, but there must be penalties on health professionals who violate such prescriptions. About financial arrangements in case of referrals, a health professional must not refer a patient in a health facility of his or her investment interest. On the other hand, records must be kept and charges on duplicating them should be the same subject to penalties if health professionals breach the requirements (Hillman, B. J., & Goldsmith, 2010). The proposed bill has a huge implication on the nursing profession in that certain titles like psychiatric nurse will change to psychiatric-mental health advanced practice registered nurse. Nurses also have to continuously provide patients with their substances of abusive. On the other hand, ethical issues like information disclosure will attract penalties, and they must ensure that there is non-discriminatory health examination (Corley et al. 2005). Besides, the bill compels them not to refer patients to health facilities where they have investment interests. Conclusion In summary, the proposed SB CS/SB 1352 will change the health sector of the Florida County in that it will expand drug prescription. This is because the prescriptions by the advanced registered nurses will take effect even though normal nurses are the ones who will be administering the drugs. Therefore, they must not deny patients the substances. Financial regulations are also stipulated in the bill where record duplication must be charged at constant rates, and referrals must not benefit the health professionals. There is also a strong emphasis on information disclosure that must be compromised under certain situations like legal investigations. References Corley, M. C., Minick, P., Elswick, R. K., & Jacobs, M. (2005). Nurse moral distress and ethical work environment. Nursing Ethics, 12(4), 381-390. Grimsley, (2014). CS/SB 1352: Health Care Practitioners Florida. The Florida Senate. Retrieved on 6th June 2014 from http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2014/1352 Hillman, B. J., & Goldsmith, J. (2010). Imaging: the self-referral boom and the ongoing search for effective policies to contain it. Health Affairs, 29(12), 2231-2236. Lavoie, K. L., & Fleet, R. P. (2002). Should psychologists be granted prescription privileges? A review of the prescription privilege debate for psychiatrists. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 47(5), 443-449. NCSL, (June 2, 2014). Prevention of prescription Drug Overdose and Abuse. Retrieved on 6th June 2014 from http://www.ncsl.org/research/health/prevention-of-prescription-drug-overdose-and-abuse.aspx. Department of Health & Human Services, (2014). Addressing prescription drug abuse in United States. Retrieved on 6th June 2014 from http://www.cdc.gov/HomeandRecreationalSafety/pdf/HHS_Prescription_Drug_Abuse_Report_09.2013.pdf Read More