The New Jersey Nursing Initiative’s news roundup highlights nursing and health care stories from around the state.

Experts focus on health, equitable communities (Edison Sentinel)
Education, income and race can mean the difference between health and illness, and even life and death. “We know it’s there; the question is what to do about it,” said Dr. Robert Like, professor and director at the Center for Healthy Families and Cultural Diversity at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson (RWJ) Medical School. Recognizing the persistent health disparities among communities throughout the state, the “Building Healthy, Equitable Communities Conference” sought to equip participants with the resources to work toward eliminating such inequities.

Felician College’s School of Nursing receives full CCNE accreditations (Nurse.com)
The Felician College School of Nursing has received initial accreditation of its new DNP program as well as reaccreditation of its MSN and post-graduate APRN certificate programs, the school announced. The accreditations were granted by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, an accrediting agency for baccalaureate and higher-degree nursing programs in the United States.

Home health agencies want warning before reimbursement cuts (NJ Spotlight)
Two years ago, Horizon NJ Health cut reimbursements to home health providers by 10 percent, leaving those agencies fuming — and alleging that the cuts would affect their ability to attract and retain workers to what were already low-wage positions. In fact, the home health agencies say Horizon wouldn’t meet with them to discuss the reductions. That’s one reason why they’re supporting a bill that would require Medicaid managed-care organizations (MCOs) — large insurers like Horizon that oversee long-term care for Medicaid recipients — to discuss cuts at least three months before implementing them.