Critical Health Areas Project (CHAP) Newsletter

Volume 3, Issue 2

March 21, 2008

IN THIS ISSUE...

Announcement:

Spring Forum

Chronic Care and Quality:

Reinventing of Chronic Care in Pennsylvania

Healthcare Access:

Illinois
Florida

Addiction Prevention and Treatment:

Cocaine Brain Research
NSDUH Report on Hallucinogen Use

Providers and Workforce:

Legislature Passes Bill to Allow One Agency to Control Professionals
In Other Studies/News

Announcements

Spring Forum: We are looking forward to NCSL's upcoming Spring Forum in Washington, DC on April 24 - 26. If you are able to join us, please feel free to drop by any of our Health Committee sessions, on topics such as the nursing pipeline, prisoner re-entry and mental health, and health information technology. For the agenda please go to: http://www.ncsl.org/programs/seminars/springagenda/showmain.cfm?termsel=Health%20Committee%20&sessiontype=1

Chronic Care and Quality

Reinventing of Chronic Care in Pennsylvania

This May, Pennsylvania will commence its new chronic care program based on a prototype developed by Dr. Edward Wagner in the 1990s. The chronic care model consists of a care team led by a primary care physician or nurse practitioner. These teams guide the patient to better understand and manage their chronic conditions. Learning opportunities throughout the state will inform teams of the various resources available and the basic functions of the chronic care model. Teams will also have access to the Improving Performance in Practice (IPIP) system which aids offices in progress tracking.

To help defray the increased management and coordination of chronic care patients, practices will receive enhanced payments and be eligible for bonuses based on improved patient outcomes. The program will begin in Philadelphia and then expand to the rest of the state in September.

For more information on Pennsylvania’s plan please visit: http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/news/news-now/government-medicine/20080220pachronic.html

For information on the chronic care model: http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/practicemgt/quality/qitools/quality/chroniccare.html

Healthcare Access

Illinois:

A state legislative oversight committee voted on February 26 to reject Governor Blagojevich’s proposed expansion of Illinois’ Family Care program. The expansion would have extended health care coverage to an estimated 147,000 people by increasing eligibility to include families of four earning up to $82,600 per year—up from the previous level of $38,202. The expansion is expected to cost approximately $14 million. The committee voted to deny the proposal due to concerns that the program would be funded without the Legislature’s approval.

Despite not having the consent of the Legislature, the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services has already enrolled 3,300 people into the program since last November. The Governor’s office has said that the state will move forward with enrolling more of the uninsured into the Family Care program. Meanwhile, a lawsuit challenging the administration’s authority to expand the program without legislative approval is pending in a county court. A hearing on the matter will take place March 11.

Florida:

Governor Crist announced on February 26 his “market-based” plan to expand low-cost health insurance coverage to more uninsured Floridians. For more information, please see NCSL’s article in State Health Notes: http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/shn/2008/sn510a.htm.

Addiction Prevention and Treatment

Cocaine Brain Research

Brain scans of cocaine users may hold clues as to why some people become addicted while others can use the drug socially, the Associated Press reports. Researchers at Trinity College Dublin performed MRIs of cocaine users as they performed simple computer tasks. The scans showed changes in the part of the brain that controls behavior and decision making, specifically marked by reduced blood flow to that area. The researchers believe that understanding this response can help better predict those at risk of developing an addiction.

NSDUH Report on Hallucinogen Use

In its latest National Survey on Drug Use and Health Report, SAMHSA examined the rates of use for specific hallucinogens by adolescents and young adults. In general, the report indicated that most use of hallucinogens has decreased in the past several years. However, first time use of ecstasy among the younger age groups (12-17 and 18-25) showed signs of increasing. The most commonly used hallucinogen was lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), with 9.5 percent of survey respondents reporting use in their lifetimes. Ecstasy was second most common, with adolescent (ages 12-17) females reporting higher use than adolescent males. This was reflective of the general trend where adolescent females use more hallucinogens than males, whereas for young adults males are the more common users.

Providers and Workforce

Legislature Passes Bill to Allow One Agency to Control Professionals

Washington state may change the way health professionals are disciplined, pending the Governor’s approval. After seven iterations in two years, HB 1103 finally has widespread support, and will likely be signed into law.

As it stands now, The Department of Health controls 48 professions, but boards made up of professionals in specific fields manage 14 more. The bill proposed giving the power to discipline professionals directly to the agency, which resolves complaints faster.

However, several professions opposed the bill. For example, physicians argued that only another physician could say whether a doctor had made a clear mistake in a complex medical case. The final version of the bill allows various boards to continue to decide whether their profession's standards have been breached in a case, but gives the agency control over sexual misconduct investigations.

For more information go to http://www.theolympian.com/news/story/386036.html

In other news

Massachusetts – The President of the Senate proposed a ban on all gifts and freebies to doctors from pharmaceutical companies, which, if it passed, would be the first such law in the nation. http://www.boston.com/news/health/articles/2008/03/04/ban_on_gifts_to_doctors_sought/

Federal – To address a national shortage of nurses, the Department of Veteran Affairs has launched a three-year pilot program to enable VA nurses to travel and work throughout the department’s medical system. http://www1.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=1466

For more information on CHAP and these critical issue areas, visit our website! http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/forum/chap/index.htm

The Critical Health Areas Project (CHAP) newsletter is published monthly by the Forum for State Health Policy Leadership at NCSL and funded through the generous support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

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