An
article written by Pat Anson, editor at Pain Network News, PROP Leads New Effort to Silence Pain Patients, prompted me to respond in my comments, and
take it a step further by letting my legislators know how I feel. Once
posted on my blog, this letter will also be tweeted out to various individuals
and shared on my various social media accounts. I hope you will do the same.
You
can find contact information, including how to contact your senator, representative, and others on my website at the bottom of the "Advocacy Template Letter".
April, 2016
RE:
H.R.4499
S.2758
- PROP Act of 2016
A
bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to remove consideration of
certain pain-related issues from calculations under the Medicare hospital
value-based purchasing program, and for
other purposes; to the Committee on Finance.
As
an RN who worked her entire career in the hospital setting, writing policies
and procedures for staff development and working closely with hospital
standards, the Joint Commission, and the American Society of Hospital and
Education and Training (ASHET), this Act is deplorable. Surgical pain is clearly
not the only pain that needs to be addressed in the hospital setting, though
controlling pain improves healing and patient outcome in surgical patients, gets
them moving, and prevents things like pneumonia. Pancreatitis, the affects of
systemic rheumatologic events, kidney stones, broken bones, burns, and even
heart attack are among the hospital patient population requiring pain care.
How
would you feel if you were given morphine during a heart attack, which we know
improves cardiac output, and you were not reassessed? What if your daughter
develops post partum pancreatitis and suffers needlessly? What if you have a
kidney stone and you are left to pace the ER with no relief? What happens if a
patient’s pain creates an ugly primal instinct that puts hospital staff at
risk? You MUST pay attention, because that is exactly what will happen. Hospital
policies and procedures are based on what their governing bodies (i.e. CMS and
JCAHO) suggest and find important. When outcome is the goal, patients are less
likely to be readmitted. There is a very good reason that hospital pain care
should be assessed by the patient. Patient suffering to boost PROP, Phoenix
House, profit margins is inhumane.
Please
support the efforts of Lemeneh Tefera, MD, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services and stop the lunacy created by the PROP Act of 2016, S.2758.
Sincerely,
Celeste Cooper
~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~
Resources of interest:
S.2758
- PROP Act of 2016
04/07/2016 Read twice and referred to the Committee on
Finance.
Type
of Action: Introduction and Referral
Action
By: Senate
H.R.4499
- PROP Act of 2016
Sponsor:
Rep. Mooney,
Alexander X. [R-WV-2] (Introduced 02/09/2016)
Committees: House - Ways and Means
Latest
Action: 02/11/2016 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health. (All Actions)
Measurement
of the Patient Experience Clarifying Facts, Myths, and
Approaches ONLINE FIRST
Lemeneh Tefera, MD,
MSc1; William G. Lehrman, PhD2; Patrick Conway, MD, MSc3
~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~
"Adversity is only an obstacle if we fail to see
opportunity."
Celeste Cooper, RN
Learn more about what you can do to help your body function to its
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All answers and blogs are based on the author's opinions and
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