ANALYSIS OF LOBBYING STRATEGIES USED TO INFLUENCE HEALTH POLICY.
Contributors: George Mason University.
Published: 1994
Number of pages: 225
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Political Science, General.
Description: This descriptive study identifies and analyzes lobbying strategies used by lobbyists hired by special interest groups to influence health policy in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Two health care pieces of legislation from the 1991 legislative session were analyzed: Independence Practice of Physical Therapists and Prescriptive Authority for Licensed Nurse Practitioners. Data were collected from three sources: (a) a researcher designed questionnaire; (b) a semi-structured interview; and (c) content analysis of PAC donation records and membership lists. A sample representative of the health policy milieu of the Commonwealth of Virginia included three lobbyists and two co-sponsors for the nurse practitioner legislation and two lobbyists and one sponsor for the physical therapists. Each lobbyist and sponsor completed a questionnaire and participated in an interview. Analysis included non-parametric statistical analyses of the questionnaire data, theme identification from the interviews, and corroboration of the documents with the questionnaires and interviews.

Lobbying strategies considered "most effective" by lobbyists and sponsors were "contact by visit" and "receiving research results or technical information." Lobbying strategies described as effective ranged in frequency from "often" to "sometimes" included: (1) contact by phone particularly from constituents; (2) contact with lobbyists; (3) help draft legislation; (4) inform members of the organization about activities as a lobbyist; and (5) hear testimony at committee and subcommittee meetings. The examination of the interview portion of the study resulted in the identification of the environmental themes. The themes of sponsorship, timing, events, and ethics influenced the nurse practitioner legislation. The physical therapists' legislation was influenced by sponsorship, events, and ethics. It is important to note that the theme of time was absent in the unsuccessful physical therapy legislation but appears in the nurse practitioner legislation which passed. The presence, amount, and quality of environmental themes influenced the passage of health care legislation. Content analyses of PAC donations and membership records supported the results from the questionnaires and the interviews.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-04, Section: B, page: 1381.

Thesis (PH.D.)--GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY, 1994.

School code: 0883.