Clinton names three RNs to federal healthcare commission on consumer protection and quality

Three nurses have been named to the President's Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Health Care Industry. Beverly Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN, president of the American Nurses Association in Washington, D.C.; Marta Prado, RN, senior vice president of InPhyNet Medical Management in Florida; and Mary Wakefield, PhD, RN, FAAN, director and professor for the Center for Health Policy at George Mason University in Virginia, are among the 32 members named to the panel by President Clinton March 26.

The group will be headed by Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala and Labor Secretary designate Alexis Herman, if she is confirmed.

During the next year, the commission will develop a "consumer bill of rights" assuring patients' that their plan has an adequate grievance process; that their healthcare providers are not getting inappropriate financial incentives to limit care; and that they have information about the quality of their care and their health providers.

"[The commission] will give us a roadmap to help us make our way through this time of rapid change we now see in our health care system," Clinton said during the ceremony announcing the panel. "Their task will be focused and urgent: to find ways to ensure quality, and to ensure that the rights of consumers in health care are protected."

Since Clinton first announced plans to create the commission seven months ago, White House officials have stressed the commission's work would include all forms of health care plans, including fee-for-service and managed care.

The Wall Street Journal reported Clinton's Senior Health Care Adviser Chris Jennings saying the panel would be taking a close look at how to define and enforce quality standards for health care.