What is this bill?

The Home Health Nurse Promotion Act of 2009 (H.R. 1928) is a bill proposed to increase home healthcare services, particularly for underserved and at-risk populations, by assisting visiting nurse associations and other non-profit home health agencies to improve training and workforce development for home healthcare nurses, promoting and facilitating academic-practice collaborations, and enhancing recruitment and retention of home healthcare nurses.

Click here to see the full bill

What is the purpose?

The purpose of the Home Health Nurse Promotion Act of 2009 is:
- Assisting visiting nurse associations and other non-profit home health agencies to improve training and workforce development for home healthcare nurses
- Promoting and facilitating academic-practice collaborations
- Improving recruitment and retention of home healthcare nurses

The governmental objectives of the bill are to increase the number of home healthcare nurses thereby expanding the access that high-risk patients and underserved populations have to these nurses. With this bill the government hopes to close the disparity gap between the patients who can afford to receive home health care and those who can't. They hope to accomplish these goals by:
- authorizing grants under the Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act so that non-profit home healthcare providers can more easily recruit and train nurses in the specialized fields of home health and geriatric care
-offering loan forgiveness to nursing students who commit to working three years for a non-profit healthcare provider
- establishing a pilot program to enable no less than five Colleges of Nursing to partner with non-profit providers to develop curricula and teaching opportunities that develop the skills necessary for home health

Why is this bill needed?

It will help fill a current national need for home healthcare nurses by underserved populations. There currently is a significant shortage of home healthcare nurses, which is harming individuals’ access to cost-effective home healthcare, particularly among underserved and high-risk populations. Fifty-nine percent of VNAs surveyed indicated that they must decline patient referrals on a weekly basis. (VNAA Survey, 2008)

It will help meet the projected need for home healthcare nurses. The aging population, the increasing prevalence of chronic disease, longer life spans, and the general preference to live as independently as possible at home will create an unprecedented demand for home-based care during the next several decades. Home healthcare is predicted to experience a 36% demand shortfall by 2020 (U.S. Department of Labor, 2007). Demand for home healthcare nurses is expected to increase 109% by 2020. (HRSA, 2004)

It will help control national healthcare costs by prioritizing home and community-based nursing care. Such care is consistently being cited as a cost-effective alternative to institutional care. National average per-beneficiary spending by Medicare for those with at least one chronic condition during the last two years of life is $2,262 in the home health sector, $7,257 for outpatient care, and $25,376 for inpatient care. (Wennberg, J., Fisher, E., et al. 2008)


The aging population is rapidly increasing therefore increasing the need for home health care. The increasing aging population, prevalence of chronic disease, and strong preference by individuals to live independently at home as long as possible will create an unprecedented demand for home-based care during the next several decades. By 2020, home health utilization is projected to increase by 36 percent. As a result the demand for home healthcare nurses is projected to increase by 109% by 2020, compared to 37% for hospital nurses.


Visiting nurse associations have been shown to lower costs for high-cost patient populations. Yet because they provide a substantial amount of uncompensated care, they are increasingly unable to compete for nurses in a national nursing shortage environment. According to a recent survey 81% of the visiting nurse associations indicate that their salary limitations are the number one barrier to recruitment. Approximately 22% of the visiting nurse associations indicate that their local hospitals offer salaries $10,000 greater than they are able to offer.

Potential impact of the policy change on nursing, clients, and the health care system

There is currently a shortage of home healthcare nurses. This legislation will offer visiting nurse agencies and other home healthcare providers the opportunity to recruit highly specialized nurses who have expertise in geriatric care. This will increase the number of home healthcare nurses and their availability to the population. By increasing the availability, there will be greater access to cost-effective health care for clients specifically in underserved and high-risk populations. This legislation will help to control national healthcare costs by prioritizing home and community-based nursing care which is a cost-effective alternative to institutional care.

Click here for article: Nursing Shortage Hits Home Health

Official website of the Visiting Nurse Associations of America

If you would like more information about the VNAA and their support of the Home Health Nurse Promotion Act of 2009 please feel free to visit their website:

www.vnaa.org


Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Taking Action


As nursing students, our goal is to inform the general public about The Home Health Nurse Promotion Act of 2009. We want those affected by the shortage of home healthcare to become educated about why it is necessary to increase services, promote academic-practice collaborations, and enhance the recruitment and retention of home healthcare nurses. The first step in our political action plan is to provide readers with up to date information and articles that support why home healthcare services need improvement through this blog that we have created. It is also our goal to contact key legislators and invite them to visit our blog. We hope that they will recognize how passionate we are about this bill. Also, we have provided our readers with information regarding Medicare and the budget cuts that will affect home healthcare services. On our blog is a link that leads to a petition that our readers can sign if they support the protection of home healthcare services. Lastly, we plan to contact Virginia legislators and invite them to become co-sponsors for the bill. We hope that they will grasp what this could mean for the healthcare system and how it can benefit both healthcare workers and patients.

Refer to our previous post "Home Health Nursing...A Growing Trend" to read a scholarly based article describing why home healthcare needs change and improvement.
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