Psy/372 Week 3

* Review current legislation with implications for community and public health nursing.
Conduct phone calls, interviews, and Internet research to evaluate the how the bills will affect health care. Determine how the bills would affect the following: * Any community partnerships, coalitions, or planning groups * The health needs of vulnerable populations within the community
Many elderly and disable patients have difficulty with the cost of their medications as well as managing their finances. * The health needs of your participating family * The RN’s ability to provide care
Compile your Nursing and Health Care Legislation Review data in a table, spreadsheet, or other appropriate format.
Complete your Clinical Log: * Specify how you compiled the data. * Specify how
you allocated your time. * Log a minimum of 5 hours to the Nursing and Health Care Legislation Review. Community Partnerships:Hope In-Home CareSentara Home CareSentara Outpatient Pharmacy | Governmental negotiation with pharmaceutical manufactures would be very beneficial for Medicare recipients.
The community partners all agree that too many Medicare recipients have difficulty with the cost of medications, even with Medicare advantage plans. Patients that can afford their medications are more compliant, will likely have decreased complications and healthier outcomes than those that cannot afford their medications. This means better outcomes for the community partners. | Health Needs of Vulnerable Populations | Most Medicare recipients fall within the vulnerable population, due to age, disability or both. Most live on limited resources and struggle with managing their financial needs. When a person is unable to meet their daily living expenses, such as paying for rent, utilities, and food, healthcare needs usually become low on the priority list. Making medications more affordable should be a priority to assist the patient with obtaining their medications, managing his or her health, and reducing the need for hospitalization and readmission rates.
| Health Needs of Participating Family | The participating family struggles with day to day finances. LT is covered under Medicare and the majority of her income goes towards her medical bills and medications. She has a supportive family that understands the need for LT to remain in their home because LT would have difficulty managing financially without the support of her family. | RN’s ability to provide care | Patients that have difficulty with the cost of medication are unable to effectively manage their health. There is limited financial assistance for patients with government funded insurance. Community Health Nurses and Institutional nurses are able to provide education to these patients regarding compliance, medication management, and diagnoses; but, these patients will likely end up in the hospital either for new admission or returning admission without the ability to afford their medications. Since there is limited assistance available to these patients, it is vital that care is given to reduce the cost of the medications. The student nurse spoke with representatives of two home health agencies and a pharmacist. Both home health agency representatives are nurses who expressed the need for the government to negotiate lower medication cost for Medicare recipients. The nurses stated that many of the patients that they see have issues with multiple medications. The patients select which medications they can afford instead of obtaining all of the medications prescribed monthly. The nurses have worked with many doctor’s offices and pharmacies to determine what medications the patients can take that would be as effective and more affordable. Sometimes it is necessary for patients to take medications that are expensive, and that have no generic form. These are the medications the patients have the most difficulty obtaining. | | |