Primary Care Expert Panel

The Primary Care Expert Panel provides expertise and leadership in primary care policy and develops collaborative strategies with other panels where primary care informs the policy issues. 

Inaugural Year: 2014

Chair:
Susan Renda, DNP, ANP-BC, CDE, FNAP, FAAN
Associate Director DNP Advanced Practice Program
Johns Hopkins School of Nursing

Vice Chair:
Mario R. Ortiz, RN, NP-C, PhD, FNAP, FAAN
Dean and Professor
Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences
Binghamton University

Board Liaison: Nancy Redeker

Staff Liaison: Justin Cowling

Previous Chairs: Phyllis A. Solari-Twadell (2020-2022), Lusine Poghosyan (2019-2020), Patricia Vanhook (2018-2019), Lynne Dunphy (2016-2017), Margaret Flinter (2015-2016), Joyce Pulcini (2014-2015)

Summary:
Primary care has taken center stage as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is implemented across the United States. Models of providing primary care are emerging across the country and the world and nursing leadership is needed to identify the models that will best advance and exemplify primary care practice. As the population ages the time is right to focus on the policy issues related to increasing and better utilizing the nursing workforce in primary care and on improving quality care coordination for patients across all settings. More work is needed to measure patient outcomes and to improve data collection in primary care that account for the explicit contribution of nurses.

The goals of the Expert Panel are to support the Academy in fostering and informing health policy regarding primary care; provide expertise and leadership in primary care policy, quality, and practice issues to other panels and develop collaborative strategies with other panels where primary care informs the policy issues; promote the increased use of nurses at all levels to address the needed primary care workforce; promote improved coordination of care and smooth transitions across all practice settings; and promote networking among Academy fellows for the purpose of fostering research and scholarship on issues related to primary care.

Publications:

• Practice Guidelines: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the future of telehealth in primary care (September 2021)
• State responses to COVID-19: Potential benefits of continuing full practice authority for primary care nurse practitioners (August 2021)
• Position statement: Opioid Crisis through the Lens of Social Justice (September 2020)
• Policy Brief: Improve nurses’ well-being and joy in work: Implement true interprofessional teams and address electronic health record usability issues (November-December 2019) 
• Policy Brief: Emerging role of baccalaureate registered nurses in primary care (September-October 2018) 
• Policy Brief: An effective human papillomavirus vaccination policy will reduce infection- and malignancy-related morbidity and mortality (May-June 2018) 
• Position Statement: Full practice authority for advanced practice registered nurses is necessary to transform primary care (November-December 2017) 
• Position Statement: Full practice authority for advanced practice registered nurses is necessary to transform primary care.  (November, 2017)
• Policy Brief: Opioid misuse epidemic: Addressing opioid prescribing and organization initiatives for holistic, safe and compassionate care (July-August 2017) 

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