A strategic view of AORN's federal legislative issues

AORN Journal,  April, 2004  by Burke Beu

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Medical liability reform has been mentioned by some state coordinators on AORN's Legislative Committee as an area of consideration for possible legislative activity, and President Betty Shultz, RN, CNOR, highlighted the importance of this issue in an article in the AORN Journal rifled "Is it time to take a position on medical liability reform?" (3) As she noted, the topic must be addressed from both the perspective of collaboration with surgical colleagues and maintaining AORN's commitment to quality care and patient safety.

Several bills regarding medical liability reform have been introduced in Congress. The HEALTH Act of 2003 (ie, HR 5), which was introduced by Rep Jim Greenwood (R-Pa), has numerous cosponsors and support from the American Medical Association (AMA). The primary features of the bill are a cap on liability damages of $250,000 and a three-year statute of limitations for most claims. It has passed the House and has been sent to the Senate, where there is a companion bill, S 607, introduced by Sen John Ensign (R-Nev). Sen Ensign also has introduced S 11, the Patients First Act of 2003, which offers comparable provisions.

Procedural delays to stop S 11 have succeeded, and proponents of HR 5 and S 607 fear that the same thing may happen to their bills in 2004. Another interesting bill is S 1055 introduced by Sen Richard Durbin (D-Ill). This bill would provide physicians with tax deductions for liability insurance premium costs. It does not have the support of the AMA, but it represents possible Democratic approaches to liability reform should the Democrats assume control of the House, Senate, or White House after the 2004 elections.

AORN's plan of action is to work with the AORN Legislative Committee to assess member opinions on this issue as soon as possible. After a report from the committee, the Board will consider AORN's next steps. Additional information will be presented during the AORN Leadership Conference in Denver this July.

AORN LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE

The goal of the Legislative Committee is to serve AORN's members by fulfilling the President's charges and effectively communicating with the Board of Directors. Currently, AORN's Legislative Committee consists of a chair and two co-chairs who are supported by state coordinators in each state. The full committee usually meets two or three times a year, either in person or by conference call, to fulfill charges assigned by the AORN President. The chair and co-chairs usually also meet for general planning and to select annual legislative awards.

The staff consultant to the Legislative Committee recently suggested a new format to the Board of Directors. The Board noted that committee appointments each year are at the discretion of the new President. For the 2004-2005 calendar, the committee will be structured as follows.

* The new chair of the Legislative Committee is Armando Riera, RN, BSN, CNOR, of Miami.

* There will be five co-chairs, each assigned to a region of the country (ie, north, south, east, west, central). Each co-chair will be responsible for communicating with state coordinators in 10 states.