SIMULATION Act Action Alert

Medical errors kill as many as 98,000 people annually, costing our nation $54 to $79 billion.  However, medical simulation technologies are providing new ways to ensure clinical competence long after a clinician has finished his/her training, residency, fellowships, or internships.  Just as airline pilot simulator training dramatically improved airline safety by reducing pilot error; the use of medical simulators can reduce unnecessary and costly medical errors, thereby, increasing patient safety and reducing health care costs. 

On December 6, 2007 Representatives J. Randy Forbes (R-VA) and Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) introduced the Enhancing SIMULATION (Safety in Medicine Utilizing Leading Advanced Simulation Technologies to Improve Outcomes Now) Act of 2007.   To ensure that this measure is enacted, significant numbers of Representatives need to become cosponsors. 

Please take a moment to send an email or a letter to your Representative asking him or her to cosponsor this important legislation.  Weighing-in with your Members of Congress takes less than five minutes.  Despite how it may seem, these letters do get read and counted by Congressional offices and they do make a difference!!

How to Contact Your Representative

To contact your Representative, go to www.house.gov.  If you already know who your Representative is, you can find his or her name on the drop down menu located at the top of the page.  If you do not know who your Representative is, in the upper left hand corner of the home page, there is a “Find Your Representative” tool that will help you find your Representative using your zip code.  (It’s best to have your full nine digit zip code available as many of the Representatives’ districts overlap.) 

Once you get to your Representative’s website, there is usually a “contact” icon.  From there, you should see contact information, including phone and fax numbers, as well as an email link.  You can either print this letter and fax it to the office or copy and paste the text of the letter into an email.  An email is the ideal form of communication with most Congressional offices, however you can also fax the letter if that is easier for you.  If you send a fax, please follow-up shortly after to ensure that your fax was received.  The fax machine is usually shared by the entire office and papers do get lost. 

Text of the Letter

The Honorable FIRSTNAME LASTNAME

United States House of Representatives

Washington, DC  20515

Dear Representative LASTNAME:

As a constituent, I am writing to respectfully request that you cosponsor the bipartisan Enhancing SIMULATION (Safety in Medicine Utilizing Leading Advanced Simulation Technologies to Improve Outcomes Now) Act of 2007, H.R. 4321. 

Medical errors kill as many as 98,000 people annually costing our nation $54 to $79 billion.  Simulation-based medical education can ensure clinical competence and reinforce best practices by allowing medical students and experienced clinicians to practice procedures in a realistic setting.  Additionally, by utilizing advanced medical simulation technologies, physician procedural skills training can be significantly enhanced.  Incorporating metric-based simulation into training protocols can ensure that physicians, nurses, and allied health professionals with differing skills can reach a common benchmark of proficiency. 

This legislation goes a long way in advancing the use the medical simulation.  Specifically, the bill would authorize grants to purchase medical simulation technologies for training, incorporate medical simulation technologies into curricula, and study simulation-based methods in credentialing and accreditation.  The bill also works with the Department of Health and Human Services to increase the use of simulation technologies and equipment in medical, nursing, allied health, podiatric, osteopathic, and dental education and training protocols through different programs.

The Enhancing SIMULATION Act will significantly develop the use of simulation technologies and simulation-based skills training that will improve health outcomes, patient safety, and quality; reduce medical errors and deaths; and increase health care cost savings.  Thank you for your consideration of my request and I look forward to hearing back from you regarding your cosponsorship of H. R. 4321.