The initial 2012 statistics from CMS indicate that APRNs enrolled as Medicare Part B providers (and billing under their own NPIs) continued to increase their presence in the Medicare program. Total approved charges earned by APRNs increased by 12.7% compared to the increase in approved charges for all Part B providers of just 1.2%. Full Story

HHS released the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease: 2014 Update, reflecting the nation’s progress toward accomplishing goals set in 2012 and current action steps to achieving them. The 2011 National Alzheimer’s Project Act calls for all Plans to be updated annually; the 2014 Plan follows the initial Plan released in May 2012 and an updated Plan released in June 2013. Full Story

A recent NursingTimes.net article, explores how values-based education is believed to improve interpersonal relationships between mental health nurses and patients. Full Story

Slightly more than half (51.8%) of the 8.6 million American adults who had serious thoughts of suicide in the past year did not receive mental health services, according to a new report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Full Story

In one of the most significant steps forward in community mental health funding in decades, President Obama signed into law a demonstration project of U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow's Excellence in Mental Health Act. Sen. Stabenow's bipartisan legislation, introduced with Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO), expands access to community mental health services and strengthens the quality of care provided for those living with mental illness. Full Story

In a recent letter, top Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee called on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to refrain from revisiting a proposed regulation that would have made substantial changes to the Medicare Part D program. Among other changes, the proposed regulation would have stripped antidepressants and antipsychotics of their protected status in Part D, opening the door for plans to sharply limit their coverage of these medications. CMS announced early last month that it would not finalize this and other contentious aspects of the rule, but might revisit them at a later date. Full Story

The Connecticut House of Representatives approved a bill giving some nurse practitioners greater independence to diagnose and treat patients without doctors' direction, reported the Hartford Courant. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy proposed the measure and intends to sign it into law. The proposal, which was endorsed by the Senate earlier this month, will allow advanced practice registered nurses, or APRNs, to diagnose patients and prescribe drugs, among other duties. APRNs would have to work in collaboration with a physician for their first three years, but after that, they would be free to practice on their own. Full Story

A bill that would have eliminated the need for Nebraska nurse practitioners to have a practice agreement with a physician was vetoed by Gov. Dave Heineman April 22. The bill would have required new NPs to gain 2,000 hours of experience under a physician or experienced NP, but Gov. Heineman said he would have signed the bill if it had been 4,000 hours, reported Becker's Hospital Review. Full Story

In a recent Medscape article, Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman of Columbia University discusses Representative Tim Murphy's Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act. Full Story

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced for the first time that quality measures from inpatient psychiatric facilities will be publicly reported on Hospital Compare, a consumer-oriented website that provides information on the quality of care hospitals are providing to their patients. Full Story

The American Psychiatric Nurses Association is Accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the
American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation.