Resilience and Innovation Power House Calls
The GAPNA House Calls Special Interest Group (SIG) members have spent the last few months encouraging each other as the difficulties of the COVID-19 pandemic, fires in California, feelings of isolation, and increasing patient deaths have been struggles to overcome collectively. However, I have been encouraged personally, as I see the innovative ways APRNs step up to care for the most vulnerable in our communities. House Call providers have adopted telehealth strategies but have also found House Call patients are too vulnerable and frail to rely only on telehealth strategies for care.
The House Calls SIG is made of resilient and innovative APRNs who are passionate about improving patient care. For example, Allison Dobecka and Rachel Zimmer are actively involved in the National Home-Based Medical Care Learning Collaborative, while Dr. Ron Ordona is a member of the GAPNA Home Health Coalition that helped work on the passage of the provision for NPs’, PAs’, and CNSs’ ability to certify home health, which was included in the CARES Act of 2020. He is now GAPNA’s representative to the Congress Telehealth Caucus working to support HR 7663, which would codify telehealth service after the Public Health Emergency declaration expires. He has been working tirelessly as a liaison between the GAPNA House Calls SIG and Health Affairs Committee to advocate for House Call APRNs, patients, and caregivers through legislation.
In other SIG news, Allison Dobecka welcomed a new baby into her family in the fall! Dr. Rachel Zimmer has worked collaboratively with Dr. Rachel Miller on the American Academy of Home Care Medicine Education Committee and Dr. Katie Wang at Mount Sinai Visiting Doctors on development of a House Calls Curricular Toolkit, with the help of House Call providers and educators nationally over the next year. The GAPNA House Calls SIG has provided input on the topics and formatting of the information to be used in the survey. Over the next months, GAPNA House Calls SIG members also have the opportunity to help by joining a workgroup to develop content and testing of usability. There are many things to look forward to as we move into 2021.