Pschiatric nurses in the age of health care reform

With the March 2010 passage of the health care reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the U.S Congress completely transformed the health care industry and fundamentally altered how hospitals will deliver and receive payment for care. The purpose of this article is to examine the provisions of the Affordable Care Act and its significance for behavioral healthcare. Key components of health care reform ( i.e., measuring and benchmarking quality patient care outcomes; payment reform; and the reorganization of the health care delivery system to ensure accountable, accessible, patient-centred, coordinated care) are reviewed with regard to their impact on behavioral health. The challenges, opportunities, and implications of health care reform are examined for the nursing field in general and psychiatric nursing practice specifically.