Among the notable congresswomen in the USA is Renee Ellmers who is the North Carolina’s 2nd District representative since her first election in 2010. As a nurse, she has remained an outstanding healthcare policy maker sponsoring and supporting several bills that have led to changes in healthcare service delivery in the USA.
On January 16, 2015, Ellmers introduced H.R. 398-a bill to train healthcare workers on trafficking with the aim of empowering them to identify victims of trafficking and respond appropriately and on time. In this regards, the bill proposed that government agencies would collaborate to create a curriculum and an institution that would handle training and lead to evidence-based practices. Effects of trafficking on individuals may present themselves as other conditions to the eye of general healthcare workers. As a result, Ellmers felt that it was important to have medical practitioners train on how to identify them and offer necessarily treatment. On January 27, 2015, the bill became law (Hass, 2015).
Further, on April 20, 2016, Ellmers on her behalf and that of Tom Price, Mrs. Blackburn, Ms. Matsui and Mr. Lewis proposed H. R. 5001, a bill that seeks to create flexibility regarding electronic health record (EHR) reporting. In particular, if passed, the bill would allow the use of 3-month quarter EHR for the rest of 2016 to create a meaningful use without reference to the year of payment and level of the meaningful use criteria. She has also introduced other bills like the cancer Protection Act of 2015 (H. R. 1416), and H. R. 4153, a bill seeking to provide education to prevent eating disorders. If passed, these bills would affect the financing of cancer treatment and adoption of preventive strategies of eating disorders respectively.
References
Ellmers, R. (2016). H.R. 5001: Flexibility in Electronic Health Record Reporting Act. Retrieved on September 4, 2016, from https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/hr5001/text
Hass, K. L. (2015). H.R. 398: Trafficking Awareness Training for Health Care Act of 2015. Retrieved on September 4, 2016, from https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/hr398/text
