May 2018 Newsletter
Governor Kay Ivey Signs Signature Authority Bill!
Photo – Sitting: Governor Kay Ivey.
From left to right: Anna Pritchett, Candi Williams, Eileen Meyer, Clare Kranz, Senator Jim McClendon, Joyce Loyd-Davis, Joy Deupree, Representative April Weaver, D’Ann Somerall, and Robin Lawson.
Governor Kay Ivey officially signed House Bill 429 on March 28 2018, and it immediately became law as Alabama Act #2018-474.

A ceremonial signing of the bill took place on May 21. Several members of the Nurse Practitioner Alliance of Alabama (NPAA) and representatives from the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) state office attended the ceremony along with Representative April Weaver and Senator Jim McClendon.

Representative Weaver and Senator McClendon sponsored the signature authority bill in the House and Senate, respectively, and provided strong leadership throughout the legislative session.
Policy Update – Alabama Medicaid
Drs. Eileen Meyer (Vice President of Policy) and D’Ann Somerall (President-Elect) met with representatives from the Alabama Medicaid Medical Services Division earlier this month to discuss nurse practitioners’ role in providing services to Alabama Medicaid recipients.

The initial meeting was productive and a great start to build a working relationship between our organizations. Discussion points included:

  • how the current plans for the pivot organizations would affect patient panels for providers;
  • information on the role of nurse practitioners in admissions to nursing facilities; 
  • the role of physicians and nurse practitioners in prescribing home health services and durable medical equipment; and
  • Medicaid will compare the scope of practice for nurse practitioners to current covered services.
 
NPAA looks forward to working with the Alabama Medicaid representatives. Drs. Meyer and Somerall will be meeting with them on a quarterly basis. The first quarterly meeting is scheduled for August. Should you have any thoughts or information you would like to share on the above topics, please contact Dr. Meyer at vppolicy@npalliancealabama.org or Dr. Somerall at pres-elect@npalliancealabama.org
12th Annual NPAA Conference
"Speaking in One Voice: Fostering Evidence Based Practice"
The Nurse Practitioner Alliance of Alabama (NPAA) will hold its 12th Annual Advanced Nursing Practice Conference on September 14-15, 2018 at the Hyatt Wynfrey Conference Center in Birmingham, AL (located at Galleria Mall). 

The theme for this year’s conference is “ Speaking in One Voice: Fostering Evidence Based Practice .”  We are pleased to announce the format has been revised to include choice of breakout sessions on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.

Friday morning will begin with group sessions focused on Legislative and Reimbursement issues specific to Alabama. The keynote speaker will be Mr. Frank Harrington, Director of Reimbursement and Regulatory Affairs with the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP). He will provide time sensitive information for reimbursement in our state. Other Friday morning presentations will include advanced practice issues from Peggy Benson (Alabama BON Executive Officer) , optimizing reimbursement coding tips by Lynn Rapsilber, and a legislative update by the NPAA Executive Committee.

Friday afternoon will offer breakout sessions on topics such as: structural heart disease, dyslipidemia, overactive bladder, men’s health, update on bariatric surgery and sessions on pharmacogenetics with more to come. Saturday morning will host the annual opioid prescribing update hosted by the BME or participants may attend optional concurrent sessions composed of topics on erectile dysfunction, diabetes management and much more.

Bayer will offer two hands-on-lab-sessions on IUD insertion. Please see the message below regarding registration for this specific workshop.
Conference Spotlight on Nita Limdi, PhD, MSPH, FAHA
Dr. Limdi is a Professor in the Department of Neurology and Epidemiology, Hugh Kaul Precision Medicine Institute at UAB. 
NPAA is excited to offer three presentations on pharmacogenetics at its 12 th Annual Advanced Nursing Conference September 14 & 15. Below is a short overview of one presenter and her work.      
    
Title: Pharmacogenetics: A vital tool for discovery and
implementation of precision medicine

  1. What is pharmacogenetics?
  2. How do researchers identify genes influencing drug efficacy and safety?
  3. How can pharmacogenetics be used to tailor medication treatment regimens?
  4. Pharmacogenetics testing: who to test, what to test, when to test, where to test?
  5. What resources would you recommend for NPs to learn more about pharmacogenetics?

Dr. Limdi is a clinical  pharmacist and epidemiologist with significant expertise in pharmacogenomics and pharmacoepidemiology. Her work spans from research and to application and implementation in clinical practice. Her research portfolio encompasses studies with both observational and a clinical trial designs and is focused on understanding the factors that influence drug efficacy and safety, specifically anticoagulant and antiplatelet response. An established investigator in the field of pharmacogenomics, she has made significant contributions towards understanding of genetic basis of drug response. Her work has included discovering novel polymorphisms in  CYP2C9,  statisticalanalytic approaches that has ranged from candidate gene, haplotype based approach to genome-wide association and exome approaches, and a research portfolio that includes both prospective cohort and randomi zed clinical trials. 

Through her work, Dr. Limdi has collaborated extensively with pharmacogenomics researchers including with the International Warfarin Pharmacogenomics Consortium (IWPC), the Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Committee (CPIC), and the Implementation of Genomics In pracTicE (IGNITE). In each of these Dr Limdi has made significant scientific and patient /data contributions. 

Dr Limdi also leads the efforts to  implement and integrate pharmacogenomics to guide medication selection and dosing in clinical care. Through this initiative, her team has identified and overcome barriers, incorporated genotype-guided therapy and assessed clinically rele vant outcomes to conduct economic analysis and inform health policy and reimbursement strategies for pharmacogenomics. 

In addition to research and implementation, Dr. Limdi is committed to  developing talent through mentorship. She brings a comprehensive and diverse set of skills, and expertise in pharmacy practice, pharmacology, pharmacogenomics,clinical research methods, epidemiology and biostatistics to training residents, post-doctoral trainees and junior faculty.
 
CONTRIBUTION TO SCIENCE: Harnessing the racial diversity of the population served at UAB, Dr. Limdi has led the evaluation of racial differences in the genetic underpinnings for drug response.
  1. Discovering of genetic variants and environmental factors influencing drug response.
  2. Integrating clinical, genetic, socio-demographic and behavioral data to predict drug response.
  3. Translating pharmacogenomic discoveries to health disparity populations.
  4. Developing of statistical genetic analysis approaches and methodologies.
  5. Advancing Pharmacogenomics through collaborations with national and international consortia. 
Register for IUD Insertion Lab at Annual Conference
To be held on September 15th

You must be registered for the full conference in order to attend the IUD Lab. 
Space is limited so sign up TODAY!

NPAA is pleased to announce on Saturday morning, September 15 th , there will be two lab style breakout sessions (0800-1000 or 1000-1200) sponsored by Bayer Pharmaceuticals on insertion of Intrauterine Devices (IUD). The session will contain didactic information and opportunities for hands on insertion practice with desktop models and computer simulation (e.g., Mirena, Kyleena and Skyla).

Dr. Kimberly Hart, Board Certified Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner, will present the sessions. Space is limited and advance registration is REQUIRED. Participants must be registered for the conference and then register for the IUD workshop. Priority will be given to NPAA members, as enrollment is limited. Please note: No CEs will be awarded for this session. Participants will receive a certificate of completion.

Clinical overview and hands on insertion practice will include:
  • Indications and Important Safety Information about Bayer Levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine systems (LNG-IUS) Mirena 52mg®, Kyleena 19.5mg® & Skyla 13.5mg®
  • How do the Bayer LNG-releasing IUS work?
  • How effective are the Bayer LNG-releasing IUS?
  • What effect do the Bayer LNG-releasing IUS have on bleeding?
  • What are some of the serious risks of a Bayer LNG-releasing IUS?
  • Most common adverse reactions
  • Insertion Instructions for Mirena, Kyleena and Skyla
  • Opportunity for hands on insertion practice with desktop models and computer simulation                                                                                                                                                                 
Join the Nurse Practitioner Alliance of Alabama!
The Nurse Practitioner Alliance of Alabama (NPAA) is the professional organization that represents the State’s nurse practitioners (NPs) and students enrolled in NP programs. The mission of NPAA is to promote high quality healthcare for Alabama’s citizens. All NPs and NP students in Alabama are urged to join NPAA. For more information, visit  http://www.npalliancealabama.org.