Tramadol To Be Rescheduled to a IV Controlled Substance

Dear AANP Florida Member,

I wanted to update you on some important state and national information.

TRAMADOL MOVING TO SCHEDULED MEDICATION
AS of August 18, 2014 Tramadol will be classified as a controlled substance. This is a move in classification by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.
This will be problematic for patients in Florida as NPs cannot obtain a DEA license to prescribe controlled substances. I continue to work with state level associations to remove this barrier to care.

A number of states in the country including Arkansas, Mississippi and New York have already placed tramadol as a controlled substance.

Acknowledging that changes such as these take time to implement, the DEA extended the usual effective date for this type of change from 30 to 45 days to provide what it considers to be "reasonable time for registrants to comply with handling requirements for a schedule IV" drug, such as moving tramadol products into a warehouse cage or adjusting suspicious monitoring systems to include tramadol orders. AANP encourages our Florida NPs to make plans for their patients currently receiving tramadol by NP prescription to obtain these medications from a Florida physician after August 18th to assure continuity of care. AANP continues to work with Florida stakeholders to address this and other barriers to care. Please continue to stay connected to your local NP association and AANP for news on how you can help address this issue for your patients.

FEDERAL POLICY ACTION ITEMS

1. Write Your Member of Congress on Home Health and DME
More than 20,600 letters have been sent since the first of this year! Policy makers must continue to be educated regarding the benefits NPs bring to the American health care system. Please keep these issues on their minds by continuing to send letters to your Members of Congress. AANP has made it easy for you to engage by sending a letter through our website. We also ask that as you send your letters, you add to them your personal stories regarding ways these federal barriers impact your practice. Please make sure that you sign your letters to your Members of Congress by adding your name to the form on the website.

To support the legislation to allow NPs to certify their patients' need for Home Health, use this link http://www.capwiz.com/aanp/issues/alert/?alertid=62779806

To support the legislation that would authorize NPs to document face-to-face encounters with their Medicare patients to assess the need to order all DME use this link
http://www.capwiz.com/aanp/issues/alert/?alertid=62722811

2. Support updates in the Veteran's Administration
As Congress returns this week to Washington, D.C., members of the House and Senate will meet again as they try to construct a legislative package that can pass both chambers of Congress and address the problems occurring in the VA system. AANP asks that you send letters to Members of Congress asking them to support the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) plan to recognize NPs' ability to practice to their full scope throughout the VHA system and the VA's current Acting Secretary, Sloan Gibson, to support and implement the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) plan to recognize NPs' ability to practice to their full scope throughout the VHA system. AANP believes strongly that we must continue to send letters encouraging the VA to move forward with this important policy.

Use this link to send a letter to congress and the Department of Veteran Affairs: http://www.capwiz.com/aanp/issues/alert/?alertid=62990841

AANP leadership will be speaking at several upcoming CE events around the state. Please consider attending one of the events.

Florida Association of Nurse Practitioners Annual Conference August 8-9, 2014: Susan Lynch MSN ARNP NP-C will be speaking at the Florida Association of Nurse Practitioners Annual Conference August 8-9, 2014 at the Daytona Beach Resort and Conference Center to discuss strategies to address statewide barriers.

Florida Nurse Practitioner Network Conference AUGUST 22nd & 23rd: Tay Kopanos, DNP, NP, VP for State Health Policy for AANP who will share her insight on national trends for NPs.

Lakeland, Florida, 8th Annual Polk County Nurse Practitioner Association Symposium, September 19th: Jean Aertker, DNP, ARNP, FAANP, and Region 11 Director will be presenting NP key messages and updates from AANP.

Naples, Florida, AANP 2014 Specialty & Leadership Conference, October 2nd – 5th: Plan now to join us for the AANP 2014 Specialty & Leadership Conference, October 2-5, at the Waldorf Astoria, in Naples, Florida. Conference tracks will feature Business & Leadership, Convenient Care / Urgent Care, Endocrine / Diabetes, and Orthopedics & Sports Medicine. Earn up to 21.25 CE hours! http://www.aanp.org/conferences/specialty-conference

Susan Lynch
AANP Florida State Representative