“AND THE BEAT GOES ON”
The Campaign for Action: This past fall, I had the exciting opportunity to attend, along with 500+ health professional colleagues, the two-day Campaign for Action Summit 2015: Leading Change & Building Healthier Communities, an initiative of AARP and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). The key-note speakers addressed the importance of developing a Culture of Health and included Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, RWJF President and CEO, and Dr. Victor Dzau, President of the National Academy of Medicine, formerly named the Institute of Medicine (IOM). Present were representatives of the 51 nursing Action Coalitions, which are dedicated to implementing the recommendations on a nation-wide basis of the landmark IOM report on the Future of Nursing, as well as RWJF’s new Public Health Nurse Leaders and their Culture of Health Leaders in Nursing. Dr. George Thibault, President of the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, was another featured presenter; as was Charlotte Parent, a nurse who has been appointed as Director of the New Orleans Health Department. Representative Lois Capps (D-Ca.), also a nurse, was honored at their evening reception. One has to be impressed by nursing’s ability to garner support from national foundations. We suspect that they succeed because they focus on addressing society’s most pressing priorities.
The framework for the Summit’s Culture of Health included four fundamental Action Areas. * Making health a shared value. * Fostering cross-sector collaboration to improve well-being. * Creating healthier, more equitable communities. And, * Strengthening integration of health services and systems. The goal (Outcome) is rather straight forward: Improved Population Health, Well-Being, and Equity. Each of the action areas were broken down into “drivers” with objective “measures.” Examples of the latter include: public discussion on health promotion and well-being, opportunities to improve health for youth at schools, developing business support, access to healthy foods, public libraries, access to mental health services, electronic medical record linkages, and addressing scope of practice laws. It was particularly impressive to see attention being paid to society’s growing emotional concerns surrounding caregiving burdens and disability associated with chronic conditions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was an active participant at the Summit stressing CDC’s focus on addressing “Winnable Battles,”emphasizing evidence-based interventions.
Moving from “Data to Action” is an express priority for RWJF. As has been similarly the case for various APA policy events, it was refreshing to reflect upon RWJF’s enthusiastic willingness to embrace the participation of USUHS graduate students – most of whom are active duty personnel. We believe that these student interchanges with their national leaders, especially if they involve nursing and psychology students participating together, are absolutely critical for both professions’ future in the ever-changing and unpredictable world of health care. If one is going to be expected to function within interdisciplinary teams, as envisioned by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), one must learn the language and culture of future professional colleagues. The increasing emphasis at the national level on population-centered care, undoubtedly facilitated by the expanding application of the advances occurring within the communications and technology fields, foreshadows a future health care environment that will be quite different than that many of today’s academics and practitioners have ever experienced. Fundamental change takes time and is always unsettling for those “invested” in the status quo. It is unquestionably best to begin this exciting journey early on in graduate school.
A Bi-Partisan Focus upon Society’s Need for Access: Early in February, six U. S. Senators, led by Hawaii’s Brian Schatz, introduced the Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act which would expand the federal government’s coverage of telehealth, as a benefit under Medicare. It is estimated that this legislation would result in a cost savings of $1.8 billion over the next decade. Not surprisingly, one of its supporters is AARP. The bill (S.2484) also has the support of the APA, AMA, and the American Telemedicine Association, as well as nearly 50 industry organizations. Senator Schatz: “Telehealth is the future of health care. It saves money and improves health outcomes. Our bipartisan bill puts us on a path to transform health care delivery, making it less costly and more convenient for patients and providers.”
The CONNECT for Health Act would improve access to telehealth in three major ways. It would establish a “bridge program” that allows health care providers participating in the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) to apply for demonstration waivers that would exempt them from restrictions Medicare currently places on the coverage of telehealth. It would automatically exempt participants in alternative payment models (such as Accountable Care Organizations (ACO)) from those restrictions. And, it would expand the coverage of remote patient monitoring technologies for patients with chronic conditions. Telehealth reimbursement options would also be expanded for non-hospital sites including telestroke evaluation and management sites, Native American health service facilities, dialysis facilities, community health centers, and rural health clinics. The successful efforts of Steve DeMers, CEO of the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB), during our Toronto convention to obtain the endorsement of the Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact (PSYPACT) by the APA Council of Representatives will facilitate psychology’s involvement in telehealth.
Making a Difference – Step by Step: There has recently been considerable discussion on the various APA list-serves regarding the importance for all of psychology of actively engaging the next generation within the governance. This is a policy agenda which I strongly support. Hopefully, an element of this effort will be a thoughtful focus upon providing exciting mentoring opportunities, while also addressing their ongoing training experiences. Bob McGrath is currently teaching Professional Development at Fairleigh Dickinson University and in order to make his course particularly relevant he has asked the membership on various list-serves: “What you wish you’d learned about being a professional while you were in graduate school that you didn’t?” Appreciating the national evolution towards interdisciplinary collaboration and integrated care, Steve Walfish, editor of the Division’s new journal Practice Innovations, has accepted an article for the inaugural edition submitted by School of Social Work faculty, and has in press another article by School of Nursing faculty.
Prescriptive authority (RxP) champion Beth Rom-Rymer has been inspired to continue her quest by the stories of the many Illinois psychologists and psychology students who are now studying to become prescribers. For example, one young psychologist has written: “Throughout my involvement in the psychological and medical fields over the past 15 years, I have recognized that helping people has become my life-long passion. I believe that as a Prescribing Psychologist, I would be able to provide services to a wider array of underserved populations, especially families within my Polish community, who have little access to mental health services from Polish-speaking healthcare providers.” And, Division 55 President Neal Morris (the Division’s program chair last year) selected as his Denver convention program chairs two graduate students from USUHS, asking only that Joanna Sells and Omni Cassidy work to craft a program that would be exciting for practitioners and especially for their own generation. We are confident that these thoughtful efforts by our senior colleagues will, over time, make a meaningful difference. “The Beat Goes On.” Aloha,
Pat DeLeon, former APA President – Division 42 – February, 2016
