Incoming Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, will have company on his tour of medical facilities across Florida. A key legislative ally will accompany him at some of the events, but he will also have to face nurse practitioners who will ask challenging questions about why they can't write controlled prescriptions.
On Monday, it was announced incoming House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, will open the tour with Haridopolos in Miami on Wednesday and plans to attend the final event in Tallahassee on Friday. The tour is meant to focus on Medicaid and other health-care issues.
"I am happy to join my friend, Senator Haridopolos, in not only these facility tours and round-table discussions, but also in our shared goal of reforming Florida's Medicaid system with cost-saving, patient-centered measures as our guide," said Cannon. "Solving Floridas Medicaid crisis is key to our road to economic recovery, and putting patients first is vital in crafting a comprehensive reform plan."
"Dean Cannon and I share a lot of similarities in our policy plans for Florida's future, but most importantly, we share a common belief that we need to take key policy initiatives on the road and to the people," said Haridopolos. "It is imperative that we understand all sides of an issue and listen to all affected parties -- only then can we make informed and responsible policy decisions for Florida. I thank Dean for joining me and look forward to hitting the road on Wednesday ...
But Haridopolos will have more company than just Cannon. The Florida Nurse Practitioner Network (FNPN) is encouraging its members to attend the various events Haridopolos will host as he tours the state.
The FNPN is looking to change state law as Florida is one of two states that do not allow nurse practitioners to prescribe controlled medicine.
The FNPN believes Senator Haridopolos will recognize advance practice nurses' (APN) skill and ability to help address the health care crisis in Florida and realize the opportunity to utilize the more than 14,000 APNs to help fill that void," said Dr. Chris Saslo, president of the FNPN. "We also believe having his wife as a practicing physician will help to reinforce the importance of APNs working in collaboration with all health care partners to effect a significant improvement in the health care system."
In the 2010 session, legislation was pushed to change the law and give some nurses the ability to write controlled prescriptions, but to no avail.
The Senate Health Care Committee issued a report recommending that advanced registered nurse practitioners who hold master's degrees and take classes to prescribe medicines, be allowed to write prescriptions. Bills were introduced by Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, and Rep. Juan Carlos Zapata, R-Miami, to implement the committee's recommendations during the 2010 session, but they ended up going nowhere.
"The senator does believe that most patients want a doctor to write prescriptions," said Sarah Bascom, a spokeswoman for Haridopolos. However, Bascom added, Haridopolos would listen to the nurse practitioners and was open to their views.
The FNPN can continue to expect opposition from the Florida Medical Association (FMA) which opposed their legislation during the 2010 session.
"There is no such thing as a nurse practitioner who is 'qualified' to prescribe controlled substances," said Erin Van Sickle, a spokeswoman for the FMA on Tuesday. "The Florida Medical Association is extremely concerned about the nurse practitioners continued attempts to gain prescriptive authority for these medications. The ability to prescribe controlled substances is limited to medical doctors for a reason: to protect patient safety. Physicians go to medical school to learn how to prescribe controlled substances safely and without interacting with other medications. ARNPs do not."
Florida lawmakers have worked diligently to protect patients from those who would attempt to prescribe narcotics to patients without the training required by Florida law, and that is the safe, accountable, and common-sense thing to do," continued Van Sickle. "We simply cant understand why the nurse practitioners would make such an unconscionable attempt to throw away the protections they have put in place."
The bottom line is, ARNPs do not have the training nor the qualifications necessary to prescribe these medications," she said. "If they want to prescribe controlled substances, we would encourage them to go to medical school and receive the proper training to do so."
Despite this opposition, Saslo said the FNPN would try to change the laws in future sessions.
"Our current prescriptive authority is only limited in our ability to prescribe controlled substances, which we hope to resolve in upcoming legislation," said Saslo. "With that limitation relieved, our ability to work in collaboration with our medical community will reinforce access and affordability to all Floridians. We are hopeful to be invited by the senator to participate in this very important transition."
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (85) 727-0859.
