OBNE Meeting, Aug 3, 2009

I was unfortunately late to this meeting because they started earlier than usual.

I was not present for the disciplinary presentations.

Continuing Education Discussion:

There was considerable discussion about how to word OAR 850-40-210. When a final version is provided I'll link it to the site.

SB 355: Fees for being able to prescribe pain meds. All active licensees will be required to pay a $25 annual fee to help pay for the Pain Management Program, which will provide more oversight of pain med prescribing. Apparently this exists in more than 30 states, but Oregon’s new program is the best.

Formulary Meeting Summary:

SB 327 Passed and was signed by the Governor! This is HUGE. OBNE has been working on this legislation for several sessions and many years. This says a lot about how far we’ve come, but more about how hard the board and OANP has worked to promote the profession. This should change a lot for NDs in Oregon, and eventually the US.

With the removal of restrictions (starting Jan 1, 2010), NDs will have prescription power for all meds they can safely prescribe, except that extra education will be required to prescribe chemotherapy meds, and anti-psychotics.

The Formulary council intends to include all of the drugs in the US P&F, all FDA approved substances, all drugs included in the Drug Facts and Compendium, the AAHFS, or any comparable and authoritative source.

OAR 850-060-226 (dividing drugs by ND classification) was removed from the ND OARs, and OAR 850-060-225 was clarified to better reflect the change. The question arose of what role the formulary will take on now.

Legislative update:

HB 2009 which create a Healthcare Authority Board/ Health Policy Board has apparently passed. This is one of Senator Greenlick’s measures. The Board would like to sugest and ND join to keep the ND voice alive in this board. The fear is that it will try to become and “umbrella” organization for all health-care boards which is disapproved by OBNE.

Next Meeting: Sept 28^th, 2009.

Public Comment:

Vanessa Esteves is involved in a committee to try to achieve parity for NDs in traditional medical settings: hospitals, integrative clinics, community health clinics, etc. Now that SB 327 has passed, putting NDs on par with MD primary care providers, it’s time NDs were welcomed in these settings, should they choose to apply for employment there. This is also key for banks. Apparently, banks are more likely to loan NDs on par with aestheticians rather than MDs in order to build their business. This affects the amount of money NDs can borrow as well as the terms and conditions of such borrowing. If you are interested in getting involved in the effort to achieve equality in this manner, contact Vanessa info@dresteves.com.