The heartbeat of TAPA - Tennessee Academy of Physician Assistants

Tennessee Academy of Physician Assistants
PA Pulse
The heartbeat of TAPA
Official publication of the Tennessee Academy of Physician Assistants
Vol. 20, No. 1, March 2014
In this issue
From the President
From the President ....... 1
TAPA’s 2014 Legislative
Agenda ......................... 2
UTHCS Faculty Visit
Capitol Hill .................... 3
PA Students Visit Capitol
Hill ................................ 4
Spring Fling sets records,
Challenge Bowl ............. 5
Spring Fling 2014
Exhibitors ..................... 6
TAPA visits Memphis ..... 6
AAPA Leadership and
Advocacy Summit ......... 7
TAPA PAC donors
recognized .................... 8
Mission
TAPA’s mission is to promote
accessible, quality healthcare, and
to advance the education,
profession and practice of
physician assistants in Tennessee.
Vision
Protecting and empowering the
practice of physician assistants in
Tennessee.
Spring - my favorite time of year! I just came in from a long day at the clinic
and found my 16th new baby calf born in the past three weeks. I love to watch
the calves after just a day of life bouncing around, playing with other calves.
The joy of seeing new life, the blooming of trees and plants, rebirth and
regrowth in nature is uplifting. For each of us, we seek satisfaction from
whatever we work at. There may be a tangible or intangible reward to us either
physically, financially and/or mentally. Some things we do for money, some for
pride, some for the satisfaction of improving individual lives or humanity in
general, and some things for pure satisfaction--period.
As a physician assistant, I have been blessed and ‘rewarded’ in many ways.
There is the obvious joy and satisfaction of being able to improve and
sometimes save the lives of patients. Then there is, of course, the ability to
make a good living, support family and give to worthy charities.
But do we often think of what we have gained by our interaction with each
other? I am thankful for having met and known many of you and how you have
improved my own life directly or indirectly. Some of you have formerly worked
with TAPA on the Board of Directors, helping our profession get to the level it is
today. Some of you attended and supported our conferences, which in turn
supports our paid staff to be watchdogs at the state legislature and be available
to serve PAs when an issue arises. Some of you may have been students that I
precepted, encouraging me in some silent way as you are the future of our
profession. Some of you I have met at dinner meetings or through
communications about practice issues, and you have given me a perspective I
did not have before. For each of you, I am thankful.
What you may not realize is your own importance to our profession’s
sustainability and growth. We are still an infant profession, struggling to often
find an identity and respect among our patients and other medical
professionals. We are constantly battling or negotiating for our place at the
healthcare table with legislators, insurance companies and other health
professions. Without your participation and membership in TAPA, we are not
represented in the decision-making arenas of healthcare, and there of plenty of
representatives coming to the table from other medical professions and entities
with their own central interests and agenda.
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So my plea to you is to become involved.
Whether you have a few hours every year to be
on a committee, serve on the Board of Directors,
come to PA Day on the Hill, or just be a member
who interacts with us as eyes and ears for the
profession in your own community - we need you
to join and be a resource in whatever capacity
you are able.
A new opportunity for PAs in the Chattanooga
area is coming to fruition, thanks to the work of
TAPA Vice President Jennifer Coker. If you
practice in the area, you will soon be able to join
both TAPA and the Hamilton County Medical
Society of Physicians (HCMS) and enjoy some
new combined benefits.
On a recent meeting I attended with Jennifer, Dr.
McCarley of the HCMS and their organization
director, I discovered they have the largest
regional medical society in the state with more
than 800 members! And yes, they are using that
clout
to
their
advantage
politically
and
professionally interacting with state and federal
lawmakers and insurance companies (especially
BCBS based in Chattanooga).
So the fact they are inviting PAs to become
affiliate members of their organization is both an
honor and a responsibility for us to show our
support of our supervising physicians. If this
project works out well, TMA and other county/
regional medical societies may invite those of us
practicing in the rest of the state to be involved.
So if you practice in the Chattanooga area, I hope
you take advantage of this groundbreaking
opportunity. Thanks to Jennifer for all the hours
and meetings she has given up to get this off the
ground.
In closing, I hope you realize your importance
and potential in this profession every day. I
encourage you to become involved to benefit not
only your patients, yourself and your family, but
current and future generations of our profession.
Frank D. Warren, PA-C
President
Tennessee Academy of Physician Assistants
Tennessee Academy of Physician Assistants
TAPA’s 2014 Legislative Agenda
This year, TAPA is lobbying a bill that adds PAs to
the list of healthcare professionals who may be
authorized by the Commissioner of Mental Health
to detain for further evaluation a person
determined by the healthcare professional to
have a mental illness or serious emotional
disturbance and who poses an immediate
substantial threat of serious bodily harm to
himself or to others.
The bill limits the PAs who may receive this
designation from the Commissioner to those PAs
who have a master’s degree and expertise in
psychiatry as determined by training, education
or experience. PAs would have to meet the
requirements of T.C.A.§33-6-427(b)(3), which
requires all healthcare professionals who receive
this authority from the Commissioner to complete
a 4-hour course offered once every three months
by the Department of Mental Health. Persons who
have completed this 4-hour course must also
receive additional on-line training every two
years.
Healthcare professionals who are authorized to
perform this task under current law include:
• Psychiatrists;
• Other
physicians
with
expertise
in
psychiatry as determined by training,
education and experience;
• Psychologists;
• Psychological
examiners
and
senior
psychological examiners;
• Clinical social workers;
• Marital and family therapists;
• Professional counselors; and
• Nurses with a master’s degree who
function as psychiatric nurses.
Newsletter staff and contributors
Katherine Pesut Moffat - Editor
March Issue Contributors
Taylor Kimble, PA-S
Eugene Platt, PA-C
Johnna Tanner, PA-C
Frank Warren, PA-C
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Tennessee Academy of Physician Assistants
All these healthcare professionals (except the
physicians and psychologists) must complete the
training course and must be designated as “prescreening agents” by the Commissioner of Mental
Health before they are allowed to perform this
function.
TAPA’s Lobbyist John Williams, Executive Director
Katherine Moffat and many PAs and PA students
met with key legislators to lobby support for the
bill. The Senate version of the bill (SB1502)
passed in the full Senate on Feb. 3. The House
version of the bill (HB1494) passed in the full
House on March 10, but it contained an
amendment that hadn’t been considered by the
Senate. So, the bill went back to the Senate so
that they could vote on the amendment.
The amended bill was placed on the Senate
calendar on March 17. As this is a busy time of
year for the Senate, the bill kept getting bumped.
It was finally considered on March 27, and the
Senate approved the amendment. The bill will
now go to the governor for his signature. This is
great news, and TAPA is pleased to be successful
in our legislative efforts!
UTHSC Faculty Visit Capitol Hill
to Support TAPA Bill
By Johnna Tanner, PA-C
On Wednesday, Feb. 12, the PA Faculty from the
University of Tennessee Health Science Center
(UTHSC) PA Program participated in TAPA’s PA
Day on the Hill. This was one of three days on the
hill sponsored by TAPA. PA faculty Johnna Tanner,
PA-C; Amy Allen, PA-C; Maurice Skillern, PA-C;
and Kent Lee, MD traveled to Nashville to visit
with their local representatives as well as other
members of the Tennessee House and Senate.
While there, we were able to speak to state Rep.
Curry Todd, state Rep. Jim Coley, and state Sen.
Brian Kelsey. These gentlemen were all very
gracious with their time and attention. We were
able to educate the legislators about the PA
profession, education and the current bill being
Amy Allen, PA-C (left) and Johnna Tanner, PA-C
(right), visit with state Rep. Curry Todd.
sponsored by state Rep. Ryan Williams and state
Sen. Mark Green.
We found that regardless of party affiliation, each
legislator was very concerned about access to
healthcare and anxious to hear about the PA
profession and how we can increase access by
working in a team with physicians and providing
quality, competent care.
This legislative season, TAPA has one bill in
progress (Senate Bill 1502/House Bill 1494). This
bill adds PAs to the list of healthcare professionals
who may be authorized by the Commissioner of
Mental Health to detain for further evaluation a
person determined to have a mental illness or
serious emotional disturbance and who poses an
immediate substantial threat of serious bodily
harm to himself or to others.
This was an experience that reinforced the need
for PAs to get involved in the legislative process.
The legislators were very open and receptive to
hearing from their constituents, and we were able
to clear up misconceptions about PA education
and our role in providing healthcare. I would
encourage all PAs to contact your representatives
either in Nashville or back at home. I followed up
each visit with an email and an offer to answer
questions about PAs, I am excited to report that
every email was personally answered by the
elected officials.
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Tennessee Academy of Physician Assistants
PA students visit Capitol Hill
By Taylor Kimble, PA-S
As a PA student, we focus exclusively on
education: our education, our future patients’
education, the public’s education. But what about
those elusive figures whose offices reside within
the Legislative Plaza? You know, the ones who
pass the laws that affect our scope of practice.
Who educates them?
It wasn’t until PA Student Day on the Hill, where
students from all over Tennessee stormed the
capital en masse, that I fully realized how
important our role is in government.
When discussing the bill to allow PAs to sign the
psychiatric admit form 6-404, it was clear the bill
would not meet much resistance. Many of our
legislators expressed full support for the PA
profession, some even told personal stories of the
excellent care they had received from a PA. It
was wonderful to hear such positive feedback
directly from the members of our community.
Nevertheless, there remained a portion of our
lawmakers who had little to no experience with
PAs, and speaking with them became the most
rewarding part of the day.
We spent our time with them discussing the
rigorousness of the PA education (we are experts
after all!), the numerous specialties where PAs
are currently practicing, and the team-oriented
role of the PA in medicine. It was a unique
opportunity to both teach and learn in a setting
where our passion can truly make an impact.
Every day we are learning more and more about
medicine, and all that it entails. PA Student Day
on the Hill taught us how vital it is to support and
promote our role as a PA.
Gov. Bill Haslam addresses South College
students and faculty during TAPA’s PA Student
Day on the Hill.
For most of my classmates, myself included, this
was our first interaction with the legislative
process. Behind our white coats stood a lot of
green, and stepping into those offices was
intimidating to say the least. However, we were
soon met with an overwhelmingly positive
reception.
Be sure to “like” TAPA’s
Facebook page to get up-todate
information
on
Academy happenings and to
network with other PAs.
PA Students from Lincoln Memorial University join
colleagues on Capitol Hill to lobby legislators about
the PA profession.
We are thankful to have been able to join forces
with the current PAs who are lobbying for our
future. Knowing our words could someday
influence the regulation of our profession was
inspiring, and certainly an invaluable experience.
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Tennessee Academy of Physician Assistants
Spring
Fling
sets
records,
introduces Challenge Bowl
By Katherine Pesut Moffat
Spring Fling, held March 6-8, was an extremely
successful conference. With 258 practicing PAs
and PA students in attendance, TAPA was thrilled
to set another attendance record. Following are
highlights from the conference.
The conference kicked off with a keynote
presentation by Kevin McNulty. Mr. McNulty
spoke about The Gap Between Two Worlds and
discussed the characteristics, elements and
nuances of the journey through any significant
life change, whether good or bad. Participants
learned how to navigate between their familiar,
“normal old world” and the not-so-familiar “new
world.”
On Friday attendees of the Legislative Luncheon
were treated to a presentation by Beth Harwell,
Speaker
of
the
Tennessee
House
of
Representatives. Speaker Harwell discussed
issues of importance to the Tennessee General
Assembly, and then she fielded questions from
PAs. It is not often that TAPA members have a
chance to address one of the most powerful
leaders in the state, so it was a real treat!
Later that evening, the 1st Annual TAPA Student
Challenge Bowl was held, and it was definitely a
highlight of the conference. Four PA programs
competed – Bethel University, Lincoln Memorial
University, South College and Trevecca Nazarene
Speaker Beth Harwell and TAPA President Frank
Warren, PA-C.
University. The Challenge Bowl was moderated by
Joyce Eyler, who did a terrific job.
The students answered some really tough
questions that were compiled by the judging
panel of Jennifer Coker, Amber Hoffert and Karen
Sexton. The audience was impressed that not a
single question stumped these bright students!
At the end of the day, the Bethel University team
won top prize. Congratulations to the Bethel team
members – Lauren Stephens, Michael Palmer,
Rajesh Rao and Heather Price. Other team
members included: Lincoln Memorial University –
Eric Henderson, Michelle Sullivan, Matthew
Williams, Alexis Rouvelas; South College – Brooke
Lassiter, Sarah Miller, Meredith Neighammer and
Amy Varecka; and Trevecca Nazarene University
– Samantha Clem, Agnieszka Danielewicz, Jamie
Troupe Gonzales and Osayande Omoregie.
TAPA is looking forward to making the TAPA
Student Challenge Bowl an annual event at
Spring Fling.
Students from the Bethel University Challenge
Bowl team accept their award from TAPA President
Frank Warren and Challenge Bowl Moderator Joyce
Eyler.
Throughout the conference, attendees were
treated to a variety of national and regional
experts who spoke on a variety of practice topics
including, medical malpractice, prescribing, fluid
resuscitation,
psychiatry,
hypertension,
dermatology, Meaningful Use and ICD-10.
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Tennessee Academy of Physician Assistants
Attendees also enjoyed blocks of lectures on the
following NCCPA blueprint areas – Reproductive
and EENT. Many PAs commented that this was
one of TAPA’s best conferences.
TAPA
representatives
Memphis
TAPA’s CME Committee works hard to provide
meaningful medical education on timely topics.
We hope you’ll join us at upcoming conferences
to see what all the buzz is about. TAPA knows
that PAs have many choices of where to spend
their CME dollars, and we appreciate it when
members support the Academy by spending
those dollars with us. Visit www.tnpa.com for
more information about FallFest and Spring Fling.
On Thursday, Jan. 30, the UTHSC PA Program
hosted a professional collaboration dinner at
Carrabba’s Italian Grill. The purpose of the dinner
was to introduce local healthcare providers to the
PA faculty and the profession. Additionally, the
attendees were informed of opportunities to get
involved with local PA Programs as preceptors,
guest lecturers and/or future faculty. In
attendance were PAs, nurse practitioners and
medical doctors from St. Jude Children’s Research
Center, the West Clinic and other local medical
facilities. TAPA Executive Director Katherine Pesut
Moffat also attended and provided the group with
information about the advocacy that TAPA
provides for its members across the state.
Spring Fling 2014 Exhibitors
TAPA would like to thank the following exhibitors
for participating in Spring Fling.
AbbVie
Aegis Sciences Corporation
AIT Laboratories
Arbor Pharmaceuticals
Bethel University PA Program
Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc
Entellus Medical, Inc
Entera Health, Inc
Genzyme
Imaging Center of Murfreesboro
Inventiv/Iroko Pharmaceuticals
Janssen Pharmaceuticals
KDL Pathology/Knoxville Dermatopathology Lab
Lilly Diabetes
Meda Pharmaceuticals
Medtronic
Merck Co
Merck Co
Millennium Laboratories
Mylan Specialty
Pfizer
QSource
Reckitt Benckiser Healthcare
South College PA Program
Tennessee Army National Guard
TN Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics
Tennessee Regulatory Authority
Trevecca Nazarene University PA Program
visit
By Johnna Tanner, PA-C
The event was the first of many to reach out to
local healthcare providers to increase knowledge
about the PA program and the profession.
The visit continued on Friday, Jan. 31 with an
historic event. The first PA Program in Memphis,
housed at Christian Brothers University and led
by Dr. Mark Scott, hosted the first state (public)
PA Program housed at the University of
Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) led by
Johnna Tanner for a professional training event.
See Memphis, page 7
From left to right - Christian Brothers University
PA Program Director Mark Scott, UTHSC PA
Program Director Johnna Tanner, TAPA Lobbyist
John Williams and TAPA Executive Director
Katherine Pesut Moffat.
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Tennessee Academy of Physician Assistants
AAPA Leadership and Advocacy
Summit
by Eugene Platt, PA-C
This year it was my privilege to represent TAPA at
the AAPA Leadership and Advocacy Summit in
Washington, DC from Feb. 27 through March 1st.
This is an annual event sponsored by AAPA which
brings together PAs and PA students from around
the country to review healthcare issues and to
visit Capitol Hill on behalf of all PAs. This year
over 130 attendees came down to represent
nearly 40 states!
I was excited and energized by my fellow PAs and
the substantial amount of information delivered
over the span of 2.5 days. The conference was
well organized and the topics were timely and
well presented. Many kudos and thanks to AAPA
for a great event. The highlights include:
• Seeing the progress of PA practice law in
the US
• Understanding the amount of work yet to do
• Seeing AAPA in action
• Learning about the vast amount of AAPA
resources
available
to
help
state
organizations and individual PAs in EVERY
area of practice: reimbursement, scope of
practice, credentials, legislation, insurance
and many other matters.
• How accessible and interested our national
leaders are in PAs and healthcare.
• The rapid rate of change in EMR, medical
reimbursement, new trends and regulations
• How quickly we can fall behind if we are not
vigilant and constantly diligent to maintain our
practice
rights.
Doing
nothing
and
expecting 'common sense' to protect our
rights and ability to practice is at best
naïve, and it will result in a GREATLY
reduced practice scope.
• Greater appreciation for TAPA and the
outstanding work we’ve done in Tennessee.
As PAs, we have amazing opportunities to provide
high value and quality health care in the rapidly
See AAPA, page 9
Memphis, continued from page 6
This event brought together the CBU and UTHSC
PA students and faculty for a presentation by
TAPA Lobbyist John Williams.
The presentation provided an overview of the
laws and rules governing PA practice in
Tennessee. The students were educated on the
licensure process, supervision requirements and
scope of practice laws in our state. Further
discussion
of
prescriptive
authority
and
malpractice was provided. Students took the
opportunity to ask questions on a variety of
topics related to professional practice.
It was inspiring to see the diversity in the crowd
of student in terms of age, race and background.
The future of the profession is indeed bright.
TAPA Awards
Know someone who goes above and beyond
the call of duty? If so, then take just a few
minutes to nominate them for a TAPA
award. TAPA is accepting nominations for
the follow awards:
•
•
•
•
PA of the Year
PA Student of the Year
Preceptor of the Year
PA/Physician Team of the Year
Nominations can be submitted by PAs, PA
students, faculty and supervising physicians.
The nomination deadline is July 31, 2014.
Nomination forms can be downloaded from
the TAPA website at www.tnpa.com.
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Tennessee Academy of Physician Assistants
TAPA PAC donors recognized
2014 TAPA PAC Donors
Donations received as of 3/31/2014
TAPA is pleased to recognize the following
members for contributing to the political action
committee (PAC). Many are monthly contributors,
and we appreciate their continued support!
2014 is an election year, and many legislators will
be looking for campaign contributions in order to
run successful campaigns. TAPA needs to have
the resources available to support those
candidates and legislators who understand and
appreciate the role that PAs play in the healthcare
delivery system in Tennessee.
Making a small donation, such as $25 a month,
can quickly add up to a significant yearly
investment to the future of the PA profession in
Tennessee.
•
•
•
Monthly or quarterly contributions: To
authorize regular charges to your credit card,
click here to download the Automatic
Contribution Form and return it to TAPA via
fax, email or mail.
Online:
Make
one-time
or
periodic
contributions
online
by
visiting
www.tnpa.com.
Check: Checks should be made out to “TAPA
PAC” and mailed to PO Box 150785, Nashville,
TN 37215
Sustaining member
contributing between $100 and $249
Daniel Adkisson
Amy Allen
Jennifer Coker
Pam Davis
Jill Henritze
Stan Roberts
Karen Sexton
Johnna Tanner
Robert White
Contributing member
contributing up to $100
Matthew Allman
Don Black
Amy Gable
Sherry Gatewood
Andrea Grimball
William Johnson
Roger Jones
Travis Layne
Donna Lynch
Kerri McCabe Smith
Johnny Nowlin
Eugene Platt
Michelle Ross
Debra Wittmaier
Maria Wood
Make plans to attend
Oct. 6-10, 2014
Registration materials coming soon. Check
www.tnpa.com for more details.
To submit an article to PA Pulse, contact Katherine Pesut
Moffat at (615) 463-0026 or [email protected].
9
Commissioner, continued from page 7
changing healthcare landscape. To achieve this
potential depends on YOU and me! We must be
active, informed, and participate in our
profession. I talk to co-workers often about TAPA
and AAPA participation. Many are too busy to
even join up. As one of your leaders in AAPA, I
want to instill a sense of urgency and
importance of your participation in making
our profession ever better
Enough for the pep-talk! Here are a few
highlights from the sessions I attended – just
enough to raise your awareness of the issues and
peak your interest.
Thursday - Day 1
Thursday was the "Day on the Hill" day. I was
there along with Matt Allman, PA-C from
Memphis. The morning was spent on briefings on
the status of the legislative initiatives and
practicing on how to approach and advocate with
congressmen. Full of excitement and feeling like
an 8th grader all over again, with Metro rail
passes in hand, we headed off to Capitol Hill to
visit our senators’ and representatives’ offices.
This year our legislative talking points covered a
current bi-partisan bi-cameral bill to reform the
Medicare physician fee schedule calculation called 'Sustainable Growth Rate' formula. In short
this formula automatically adjusts the doctor fee
schedule each year paid by Medicare. Passed in
1997, it was flawed from the start. Each year
Congress passes emergency legislation to 'patch'
the SGR formula. This year there is a sustained
push to revise the formula and end the yearly
emergency fixes.
It is AAPA's position to actively support this
reform. AAPA has successfully attached three
small amendments to the Senate version
to inform PA practice rights. These are: 1) allow
PAs to provide and manage hospice care 2) allow
PAs to supervise cardiac and pulmonary
rehabilitation services in critical access hospitals
Tennessee Academy of Physician Assistants
3) require the use of a modifier to CMS billing to
track care, quality, cost and value of PA services.
While frustrated at the laborious process and long
time it takes to correct small sections of
healthcare regulations, I was encouraged to see
that there is a process in motion and AAPA is
moving
forward
on
so
many
fronts.
At each meeting we reviewed PA's roles,
established relationships, and then 'ASKED' the
congressman to support this legislation. The take
home message being, "When healthcare policy
treats PAs differently than physicians and NPs,
our patients suffer continuity of care and access
to care issues and the growing PA profession
suffers too". I left each meeting with a
stronger conviction that PAs are crucial to
meeting the growing healthcare needs and we
need congressional help leveling the practice
field.
I met with a representative from Sen. Lamar
Alexander's office, and Matt went to Sen. Bob
Corker's office. He was very engaged and
informed and supportive. Next I met with Rep.
Chuck
Fleischmann
and
his
staff.
Rep.
Fleischmann actually left the House Floor during a
break to visit with me. I was impressed with his
interest and response, including his interest in
visiting the practice where I work which has
several clinics in his district. If you get a change
to visit DC, your congressman wants to hear from
you. I urge you to take the time to promote our
profession.
Friday - Day 2
Student Interview
Those in attendance at the meeting are engaged
and active. But how do we reach the others?
Friday started with a panel discussion with two
students - future PAs - discussing how to get
them engaged and how to be relevant to them.
AAPA retention has been historically poor. Over
the past 18 months AAPA made impressive
progress with retention and recruitment of new
members: 95,000-100,000 PAs and PA students
can be a sizable voice if we work together.
10
Students are engaged with multiple technologies
and need to be reached by such: Twitter,
Facebook and Email.
Friday - Session 1
Days 2 and 3 offer multiple tracks. My first
session was Future Technology and State Laws
that impact PAs in specialty practice. AAPA has a
large group of state legislative specialists who
constantly search state and federal proposed/
actual legislation for its impact on PAs. They
utilize several approaches to monitoring and
influencing these bills. AAPA keeps a summary of
each state's status with respect to practice act
and pending changes on their website. PAs are
trending more and more toward specialization
which often needs legislative changes to keep up.
Examples
include
interventional
medicines,
podiatry, and telemedicine.
Friday - Session 2
Federal Regulatory Landscape: This session
included a brief survey of all the agencies that
regulate, pay, and control healthcare. AAPA,
again, has people who meet regularly with
contacts at the highest levels to clarify and
promote PA issues. The take away with this for
me is this: If you or your billing department have
questions or concerns about how to get paid, how
to code, what you can get paid for - there are
people at AAPA who can address these issues at
the highest levels. They are available to deal
with your specific issues and are anxious to
hear from you!
Friday - Session 3
New re-certification methods are here.
Starting this year we move to a 10- year recertification process which entails new methods
for CME. These Personal Improvement (PI) CMEs
move away from the traditional reading/teaching/
testing into an engaged methodology of
projects to obtain CME. This was my first
introduction to this concept. Being a lifetime test
taker (let’s face it, if we made it this far we excel
in taking tests.), I was at first alarmed by what I
Tennessee Academy of Physician Assistants
was
hearing.
In
the
end
the
concept
of small research type projects which require us
to be more hands on has a lot of appeal. These
may involve small group research projects and/or
improving a practice process that encourages
better outcomes. These new cycles are just
starting and offer many opportunities for TAPA to
provide course and content material to help our
members adapt.
Friday - Session 4
Health Insurance Marketplaces and Medicaid
expansion. In summary: Change is coming!
We can embrace change - be leaders in
implementation - and enjoy the result of a
growing patient population. AAPA is staying
abreast of these and has people who can explain
in detail how changes will impact your practice in
your state. Call them!
Friday evening
AAPA hosted us to a scrumptious Bar-B-Q dinner
at their newish headquarters. This was a fun time
to meet the staff - eat well - and see their work
place. I was impressed by the many graphs posters - areas of work I saw. This reinforced
how much effort and how many people are
engaged in growing - shaping - and protecting
our PA profession. To me, it is crystal clear this
type of effort is necessary for PAs and our
profession!!!!
Saturday Morning - Day 3
The morning session on Saturday was a speaker
on TELEMEDICINE. It's coming. It's not simple.
Already in specialty areas, like psychiatry, it is
working well. Substantial work needs to be done
to amend state and federal regulations to permit
use of telemedicine. Once it gets momentum, it
will be here. PAs must be part of the
leadership shaping guidelines that enhance
patient care and safety while growing our practice
opportunities - or we can let it happen to us and
possibly miss out. If we help craft workable laws
and regulations which include PAs up front, it is
1000 times easier than trying to fix bad law or
add PAs as a late arrival to the table.
11
Tennessee Academy of Physician Assistants
Saturday - Session 1
Final thoughts, impressions, and actions!
Extreme Makeover: State Law Edition: How to
Renovate Your State's PA Practice Act. It is a
constant battle (it shouldn't be, but it is), to
update, grow, extend and amend each state's
practice act. AAPA has teams of people to
watchdog the current situations and help states
implement changes and improvements available
to help. Compared to other states, our Lobbyist
John Williams and our Executive Director
Katherine Moffat do great jobs staying informed
and promoting PAs in Tennessee. After this
session, I am better equipped to help shape the
continuing changes necessary.
AAPA is doing an awesome job enhancing
our profession. (So is TAPA.) We can't stop
growing, adapting, advocating for our profession.
EMBRACE change, be leaders and shape the
future. If you are quiet or apathetic our
profession WILL lose ground.
Upcoming
•
•
Saturday - Session 2
Test - do you know what 'Accountable Care
Organization
and
Patient-Centered
Medical
Homes' are? At least a working definition? Well
YOU NEED TO KNOW! Basically they are
proposed models for value-based paymentsystems which include rewards and penalties
based on patient outcomes. For me this is an
alarming concept: "If my patient, who I see as a
PCP, has a bad outcome because they fail to get
their medication following hospital discharge after
a surgery and get readmitted - my PRACTICE
CAN HAVE MONEY TAKEN BACK! (And I didn't
even know they had an operation.)" The
concept is this: The whole treatment team profits
or loses based on global patient care and
outcomes. This is very scary to me.
These
models are based on a system of horizontal and
vertical integration of the treatment teams and
shared
reimbursement.
Where
to
private
practices fit in this model? Again, we can shape
and lead or react after the fact!
Call for
Preceptors
Are you and/or your supervising physician
interested in being a preceptor for a PA
student? If so, please contact the TAPA
office at (615) 463-0026, or email Katherine
[email protected].
Pesut
Moffat
at
•
monsters
and
opportunities:
TELEMED is here and we need to participate
and be leaders.
Retail Medicine will be huge. Walmart has said
they want to be the leading provider
of medical services in the world. We need to
start working today so Tennessee PAs can
fully participate.
TAPA
opportunities
and
challenges
are exciting. A few suggestions include:
Facilitating PI-CMEs and the re-certification
cycles, sponsoring group health insurance for
our members and changing the state practice
act to support retail medicine.
While there I spent time envisioning what will
Medicine and PAs look like 10-15 years down the
road: ENGAGED EMPOWERED LEADERS excelling
in specialties, retail medicine, and TELEMED.
What is your vision? (P.S. NPs may have a more
focused future vision.)
What can you do? - The ASK!
• Join TAPA and AAPA - get all your
colleagues to at least join - Make our voice
bigger!
• Pick a PAC and contribute
• Call - write - meet your state and
national representatives - Let them know,
"I am a PA. Help me practice on a level
playing field and to the fullest extent of my
training and experience!"
• Have a practice, insurance, reimbursement
issue - CALL TAPA or AAPA today and ask
for help.
Apathy is our biggest problem in advancing
our profession. Get involved today!