When someone gets pregnant, blows out their knee, or is faced with a life-threatening illness such as cancer, they’re likely to search for the best doctor that money — or at least their health insurance — can buy.
Rural Oklahoma has always been close to my heart. I grew up on a farm in Adair, and it was the values of a rural community – hard work, honesty, caring for your neighbors – that shaped who I am and led me to public service.
The Oklahoma Senate’s only member who is a doctor said Tuesday he will
consider writing a law that ends payments that some nurses make to doctors for
prescription supervision.
Oklahoma’s advanced practice nurses are once again seeking full practice authority, backing proposed legislation that would remove financial and logistical hurdles to them providing care to Oklahomans who need it the most.
House Bill 1013, by Rep. Josh Cockroft (R-Wanette) and Senate author A.J. Griffin (R-Guthrie), would grant Oklahoma nurse practitioners (NPs) the freedom to practice to the full extent of their education and training, enabling them to serve Oklahomans where care is most needed.
This is especially important in rural areas of the state that are medically underserved.
When you call your doctor’s office, how long do you have to wait for an appointment? If you live in rural Oklahoma, how far do you drive for even basic health care? The truth is, too many Oklahomans wait too long and drive too far for the care that they need.
The Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA) Board offered State Medicaid Director Becky Pasternik-Ikard the Chief Executive Officer position at their Sept. 8 meeting held at the Children’s Center Rehabilitation Hospital in Bethany.
The board met in executive session to discuss the vacancy created by the planned Sept. 30 departure of CEO Nico Gomez. The board later voted unanimously to offer the CEO position to Pasternik-Ikard.
On Wednesday, May 25, VA proposed a federal rule change to grant full practice authority to Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRN) when acting within the scope of their VA duties. Full practice authority will help optimize access to VA health care by permitting APRNs to assess, diagnose, prescribe medications and interpret diagnostic tests. This change would increase Veterans’ access to VA health care by allowing APRNs to practice to the fullest extent of their training and license, thereby by increasing the number of fully qualified health care professionals who provide primary care and other services to Veterans.
On Wednesday, June 1, Dr. Shulkin sat down with Lisa Rein of the Washington Post to talk more about the proposed rule and what it means for Veterans, doctors, nurses and VHA as a whole.
Read the full Washington Post article: Top VA doc: If there aren’t enough doctors, have nurses treat our vets
AONP supported the passage of House Bill 2482 that updates Oklahoma state law, creating a nurse licensure compact, to allow nurse practitioners to provide care across state lines. This adds no expense to a tight state budget and is a commonsense solution to create opportunities for nurse practitioners, with licenses…….
Oklahoma is in need of more doctors for patients and Nurse Practitioners say they are willing to step up to the plate. AONP’s NP Day at the Capitol was March 29th. The event received great coverage from Fox News. Click here to view the video.
New research by Montana State University professor Peter Buerhaus and others has found that nurse practitioners are more likely than medical doctors to practice in rural areas.
The study is published in the January issue of Medical Care, the Journal of the American Public Health Association.
As part of the study, the researchers identified the geographic location of people in the United States who were newly eligible for health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act. They also identified…
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