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Representing You 2012

2012

NOVEMBER

National Student Nurses Association 30th Annual Mid Year Conference
San Diego, CA
Sponsored by the National Student Nurses Association (NSNA)
Key Issues: The midwifery profession was discussed during a panel presentation entitled, "Practicing Outside the Box."
Panel participant: Karen Perdion, CNM

CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices
Atlanta, GA
Sponsored by the CDC ACIP
Key Issues: New recommendations were presented regarding the pertussis vaccine in pregnancy. The Advisory Board solicited ACNM input in developing this recommendation.
Attended by Carol Hayes, CNM

Perspectives and Priorities in Women's Health and Health Care Services
Washington, DC
Sponsored by the Jacobs Institute of Women's Health, GW School of Public Health and Health Services; The College of Public Health, The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
Speaker: Dr. Mary Wakefield, Administrator of Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA)
Key Issues: Overview of the Affordable Care Act; the operational activities at HRSA, especially as they relate to women in underserved areas; and a brief summary of HRSA’s research initiatives.
Attended by Joanna M. King, Esq., ACNM Director of Government Relations; and Cara Kinzelman, PhD, ACNM Health Policy Researcher

OCTOBER

American Public Health Association Annual Meeting
San Francisco, CA
Sponsored by APHA
Key Issues: ACNM exhibited at this meeting.
Booth staffed by Sage Bearman, SNM; Maria Openshaw, SNM; Stephanie Bussman, CNM; Elaine Germano, CNM, DrPH, FACNM, ACNM Senior Education Policy Advisor

Bridging the Gap: Screening & Counseling for Intimate Partner Violence in Health Care Settings
Washington, DC and HHS Webcast
Sponsored by DHHS Steering Committee on Violence against Women
Key Issues: The impact of domestic violence on women’s health and the need for screening and counseling.
Attended by Diane K. Bohn, CNM

IOM Best Practices Innovation Collaborative
Washington, DC
Sponsored by the Institute of Medicine
Key Issues: Issues included identifying opportunities to increase uptake of team-based care principles via online and electronic platforms for education and collaboration.
Attended by Tina Johnson, CNM, MS, ACNM Director of Professional Practice & Health Policy

Health Professional Organizations Conference
Silver Spring, MD
Sponsored by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Key Issues: Purpose of conference was to further the public health mission of the FDA through training, collaboration, and structured discussion between health professional organizations and FDA staff.
Attended by Eileen Beard, CNM, FNP, MS, ACNM Senior Practice Advisor

SEPTEMBER

Improving Understanding and Engagement around the Affordable Care Act
Washington, DC
Sponsored by the Obama Administration
Key Issues: This briefing was designed to stimulate discussion and ideas about engaging patients and providers in implementing the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Participants were advised to take a leadership role in advising the government on how to partner to educate about the new law.
Attended by Tina Johnson, CNM, MS, ACNM Director of Professional Practice & Health Policy, and Patrick Cooney, ACNM Federal Lobbyist

Patient Safety/Quality Improvement with ACOG
Washington, DC
Sponsored by ACOG Patient Safety/Quality Improvement Committee
Key Issues: Issues included building collaborative relationships between midwives and physicians; physicians' desire to share ACNM Evidence-Based Practice: Pearls of Midwifery with medical students, interns, and residents; coping in the aftermath of adverse events and unexpected outcomes in ob/gyn and midwifery practice.
Attended by Kai Tao, CNM, MPH, ND

Workshop: Educating for Practice: Improving Health by Linking Education to Practice Using Interprofessional Education
Washington, DC
Sponsored by IOM Global Forum on Innovation in Health Professional Education
Key Issues: Developing strategies and metrics between interprofessional education and collaborative practice to achieve better health, better health care, and lower costs.
Attended by Mary Barger, CNM, MPH, FACNM, PhD

Joint Commission/AMA Summit on Overuse
Chicago, IL
Sponsored by the Joint Commission and the AMA
Key Issues: Conference was convened to look at 5 critical areas of overuse in healthcare: early term elective delivery, tympanostomy tubes in children, antibiotic usage for uncomplicated URI, blood product usage, and interventional cardiology for stabile angina.
Attended by Carrie Klima, CNM, MS

National Coalition on Health Care Policy Committee Meeting
Washington, DC
Sponsored by National Coalition on Health Care
Key Issues: Introducing NCHC’s recommendations for Congressional action. NCHC principles include health care coverage for all; cost management; improvement of health care quality and safety; equitable financing; and simplified administration. ACNM is a member of this organization.
Attended by Tina Johnson, CNM, MS, ACNM Director of Professional Practice & Health Policy

AUGUST

National Council of State Boards of Nursing
Dallas, TX
Sponsored by National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN)
Key Issues: ACNM exhibited at this meeting. About 400-500 regulators who have varying knowledge of midwifery attended.
Booth staffed by Barbara Camune, CNM, DrPH, FACNM; and Nancy Jo Reedy, CNM, MPH, FACNM

US Breastfeeding Committee Meeting
Washington, DC
Sponsored by US Breastfeeding Committee
Key Issues: The role of nursing and midwifery promoting and protecting breastfeeding in communities; World Health Organization recommendation of exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months for HIV+ mothers.
Attended by Sarah Coulter Danner, CNM

Anthrax – Special Considerations for Pregnant and Postpartum Women
Atlanta, GA
Sponsored by CDC
Key Issues: Advisory meeting. Expert opinions will be incorporated into an update of the CDC’s recommendations for anthrax in the event of a bioterrorism event (in the general population and special considerations for pregnant and postpartum women).
Attended by Karen Hays, CNM and Robbie Prepas, CNM (Co-Chairs of ACNM Disaster Preparedness & Response Caucus)

Black Women and Violence against Women Roundtable Meeting
Norfolk, VA
Sponsored by the Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community (IDVAAC)
Key Issues: Lynn Rosenthal, White House Advisor on Violence against Women, reported on the Federal Response to Violence against Women that included the results of the National Sexual Assault and Intimate Partner Violence Survey. Meeting attended by academics, domestic violence program directors and advocates with extensive collective experience on domestic violence/intimate partner violence in the African American community.
Attended by Patricia O. Loftman, CNM, MS

JUNE

National Consensus Statement on Oral Health Care during Pregnancy
Washington, DC
Sponsored by Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Maternal and Child Health Bureau
Key Issues: Identifying key strategies for implementing the guidance outlined in the document, "Oral Health Care during Pregnancy: A Summary of a Consensus Development Expert Work Group Meeting."
Attended by Eileen Beard, CNM, FNP, MS, ACNM Senior Practice Advisor

National Partnership for Women & Families Annual Luncheon
Washington, DC
Sponsored by the National Partnership for Women & Families (NPWF)
Key Issues: This event was attended by invited speakers and guests, including Distinguished Honoree and Keynote Speaker Hillary Clinton, who gave an impressive speech about continuing the passionate fight for women’s rights, particularly in health care - not moving the clock back 40 years for reproductive autonomy and access to care. NPWF is a partner organization with ACNM and the Coalition for Quality Maternity Care (CQMC). In addition, Secretary Clinton recently announced the Global Development Alliance, in which ACNM is a partner.
Attended by Tina Johnson, CNM, MS, ACNM Director of Professional Practice & Health Policy; and Suzanne Stalls, CNM, MA, FACNM, Director of ACNM Global Outreach

Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Expert Panel on Improving Maternal and Infant Health Outcomes in Medicaid/CHIP
Baltimore, MD
Sponsored by Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
Key Issues: This panel is convened for a period of 24 months with the broad goal of developing recommendations for best practices, performance measurement and reporting systems, analytic support and coordination with other national activities in order to improve maternal and infant health in Medicaid dependent populations.
Attended by Susan DeJoy, CNM, PhD

MAY

US Environmental Protection Agency Hearings on Rule for Carbon Pollution from New Power Plants
Washington, DC
Sponsored by EPA
Key Issues: ACNM representative provided comments describing how air pollution impacts the health of women and children and described how decreasing carbon pollution is beneficial for women’s health and healthy pregnancies.
Attended by Katie Huffling, CNM

APRIL

National Health Promotion Summit
Washington, DC
Sponsored by the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion; and the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research
Key Issues: Promoting the development of disease prevention and health promotion policies that align with national prevention initiatives.
Attended by Eileen Beard, CNM, FNP, MS, ACNM Senior Practice Advisor

National Quality Forum Annual Member Meeting
Washington, DC
Sponsored by the National Quality Forum (NQF)
Key Issues: NQF announced prioritization of beginning of life care at the opening session, throughout the meeting and at the conclusion; New applications offer opportunities for ACNM to highlight midwifery as a leader in quality, including the "Align your Measures" project and the Quality Positioning System.
Attended by Diana Jolles, CNM, and Elisabeth Howard, CNM, PhD

National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association National Conference
Washington, DC
Sponsored by the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association.
Key Issues: ACNM was asked to present on women’s health workforce as part of a workshop session on federal workforce initiatives. Presentation was entitled, “Women’s Health Workforce: Optimizing Access to Care," focusing on current policy trends and federal initiatives, particularly those affecting midwives and advanced practice nurses, with an in-depth look at better utilization of midwives as primary care providers for women accessing family planning services.
Presented by Tina Johnson, CNM, MS, ACNM Director of Professional Practice & Health Policy

American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine Annual Meeting
Phoenix, AZ
Key Issues: Guidelines for midwifery ultrasound practice. The American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM) is supportive of midwives performing ultrasound and desires to be of assistance in the writing of guidelines for practice and long-term ultrasound educational needs of midwives.
Attended by Cydney Afriat Menihan, CNM, RDMS

National Student Nurses Association Annual Meeting
Pittsburgh, PA
Key Issues: ACNM exhibited at this meeting.
Booth staffed by Elaine Germano, CNM, DrPH, FACNM, ACNM Education Policy Advisor, and Patricia Loftman, CNM.

MARCH

White House Meeting on Intersection of HIV/AIDS, Violence Against Women, and Gender Related Health Disparities
Washington, DC
Sponsored by Obama Administration
Key Issues: Linkage between HIV/AIDS and violence against women; a discussion of these issues and gender related health disparities in the global/domestic context.
Attended by Tina Johnson, CNM MS, ACNM Director of Professional Practice & Health Policy

ACOG Patient Safety and Quality Improvement
Washington, DC
Sponsored by ACOG.
Key Issues: annual exam recommendations; Quality Patient Care in Labor: A Call to Action; protecting Medicaid for Women's Health; possible creation of multi-stakeholder patient safety council.
Attended by Kai Tao, CNM MPH ND

FEBRUARY

Institute of Medicine Best Practices Innovation Collaborative (IOM BPIC)
Washington, DC
Sponsored by the Institute of Medicine.
Key Issues: Development of principles for team-based care to serve as common reference points guiding collaboration to improve care, improve health, and reduce costs.
Attended by Tina Johnson, CNM MS, ACNM Director of Professional Practice & Health Policy

Text4Baby and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Partnership
Washington, DC
Sponsored by Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition; Mary's Center; Johnson & Johnson; CTIA - The Wireless Foundation; Medicaid & CHIP Services.
Key Issues: Celebrating a new partnership between the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (the federal agency that administers Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and Text4Baby. This partnership allows Text4Baby to become an even greater part of the public health infrastructure in this country.
Attended by Eileen Beard, CNM FNP MS, ACNM Senior Practice Advisor

JANUARY

National Child and Maternal Health Education Program Coordinating Committee Meeting
Bethesda, Maryland
Sponsored by Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Key Issues: Elective preterm birth prevention; maternal obesity and associated newborn heart defects; Medscape CE/CME stats.
Attended by Mavis N. Schorn, PhD CNM

American Nurses Association Congress on Nursing Practice and Economics
webinar conference
Sponsored by the American Nurses Association (ANA)
Key Issues: Models of organizational structure and function.
Attended by Ginger Breedlove, CNM PhD FACNM