Advocacy

1)      Workforce Legislation- Iowa can put in place an innovative physician supply line to the state’s most underserved areas, remove one of the most significant barriers to physicians choosing to practice primary care, and strengthen the state’s primary care network, which will reduce hospitalizations and costly trips to the emergency room. A consolidated and robust grant/scholarship program targeted to increase the primary care workforce is the right investment for our medical students, our economy, and generations of Iowans to come.

 

2)      Certificate of Merit- The IAFP supports a Certificate of Merit panel to review medical malpractice lawsuits and believes this panel will decrease the amount of frivolous lawsuits coming before the courts. 

 

3)      Scope of Practice (defense)- Iowans enjoy access to a wide variety of healthcare practitioners with physicians (MDs/DOs), physician assistants, and advanced registered nurse practitioners (ARNPs) being among the most frequently visited. While there is overlap in the services delivered by these providers, there is a significant difference in the knowledge, training and skill that these healthcare providers possess. The IAFP supports the concept of the health care team that is available to the patient in a patient-centered medical home. IAFP supports a process that evaluates the appropriateness of changes in the scope of practice of an allied health practitioner based on education, patient safety and health care needs.

 

                    i.      Direct Entry Midwives- The Iowa Academy does not support the creation of a licensing board for direct entry midwives until the evidence shows those providers meet appropriate standards of care.

                  ii.      Naturopathic Practitioners-The Iowa Academy does not support the creation of a licensing board for naturopathic physicians until the evidence shows those providers meet appropriate standards of care.

                iii.      Pharmacist Immunizations- IAFP supports the concept of a patient centered medical home. This continuum of care would be broken if a pharmacist was providing immunizations and not providing this information to the patient’s primary care provider.

 

4)      Health Insurance/Benefits Exchange (HIX)- If the Affordable Care Act is upheld, the Academy supports a state run/administered health benefits exchange.

 

5)      Mental Health Redesign- The IAFP supports the redesign of the state’s current mental health delivery system.