HR2350 Includes NPs in Medical Home
On May 12, Representative Allyson Schwartz from Pa. introduced, with 106 cosponsors, the Preserving Patient Access to Primary Care Act of 2009. The bill aims to increase primary care access for patients and includes nurse practitioners as leaders of patient-centered medical homes.
Stephen Ferrara, NP, who writes the blog A Nurse Practitioner's View, wrote an excellent post about this. Click here to read it. You can also read the full text of HR 2350 here.
The bill seems to be very inclusive of nurse practitioners, and defines a "Primary Care Provider" as follows:
(7) PRIMARY CARE PROVIDER- The term ‘primary care provider’ means--
(A) a nurse practitioner; or
(B) a physician assistant practicing as a member of a physician-directed or nurse-practitioner-directed team;
who provides first contact, continuous, and comprehensive care to patients.
Some NPs have expressed hopes that the term "medical home" will be changed to "healthcare home." Loretta Ford, NP, cofounder of the NP role, even said the same to me when we spoke in May. "I don't think we're going to be part of a medical home, we're going to be part of a health home."
The bill is now being reviewed by several committees, and we will keep track of any amendments.