Download - ADVANCE for NPs & PAs

By Jennifer FordShe’s counting on you.You can count on us.Countersignature Changes Sought for PAsIn Pennsylvania, PAs are awaiting action on Housebills 1832 and 1833, which seek to remove the requirementfor countersignature by a physician on charts and formssigned by a PA. The bills would also allow PAs to performphysicals for police, foster care and day care clearance.Both bills were referred to the Committee on ProfessionalLicensure last fall. A public hearing on the bills is scheduledlater this month.The Pennsylvania Society of Physician Assistants (PSPA)worked with the state’s Board of Medicine and key interestgroups over several years, explaining the barriers to practiceand patient access that the existing language imposed, saidMark DeSantis, PA-C, PSPA chairman of governmental affairs.PSPA also sought guidance from a lobbyist group.“They were instrumental in garnering legislative sponsorship,”DeSantis said. Using email and direct mail, PSPAsent information to PAs, PA students and physicians whosupervise PAs about how to support the bill.Rep. Curt Sonney, who sponsored both bills, attendedthe PSPA annual conference in October and addressed thenearly 550 attendees.Eliminating the chart countersignature requirement wouldmake Pennsylvania’s practice laws more consistent withAAPA’s Six Key Elements of a Modern PA Practice Act, whichare discussed in an issue brief at http://www.aapa.org/uploadedFiles/content/Common/Files/SL_KeyElements_v3.pdf.Another Legislative SeasonBeckons in FloridaSeveral legislative initiatives are under way that couldimprove NP practice in Florida. HB 1195 has been introducedand would allow NPs to authorize involuntary psychiatricexaminations under the Baker Act. The Florida Councilof Advanced Practice Nurses Political Action Committee(CAP-PAC) worked with bill sponsor Rep. Daphne Campbellto submit the legislation in January.Susan Lynch, MSN, NP-C, vice chairwoman of publicrelations for CAP-PAC, is hopeful that the bill will pass.Many other providers, including PAs, physicians, psychiatricRNs, psychologists, social workers and marriage and familycounselors, already are able to involuntarily commit patientswho are suicidal or homicidal.According to the Sunshine State News, the Florida MedicalAssociation (FMA) deferred comment on this bill to FloridaPsychiatry Society executive director Margo Adams, whosaid her board has taken no position.HB 1195 is one of several attempts to expand statutoryauthority for NPs in Florida. NPs are also included in theAs health care professionals, you are committed to providingyour patients with the best care possible to help them managetheir heart failure. Introducing the Congestive Heart FailureCenter – offering medical expertise, educational and dietaryconsultations, plus on-site imaging services to ensure yourpatients have effective options available to not only managetheir heart failure, but improve their quality of life.Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) consults and treatmentare also available through the Congestive Heart Failure Center.Call to schedule a consultation and determine if LVAD is aviable option for a patient.Frequent communication with the patient’s referring physicianand all members of the treatment team is of paramountimportance and is a critical aspect of the overall care plan.Call 1.855.4CV.CARE (1.855.428.2273) to schedule apatient for a consult or for imaging services. The CongestiveHeart Failure Center is one of several clinical services offeredin the Center for Advanced Cardiovascular Care .Visit TheHeartHospitalBaylor.com/cvcare to learn more.4716 Alliance Blvd, Pavilion II, Suite 300 • Plano, TX 75093Notice Regarding Physician Ownership: THE HEART HOSPITAL Baylor Plano is a hospital in which physicians havean ownership or investment interest. The list of the physician owners or investors is available to you upon request.Physicians are members of the medical staff at one of Baylor Health Care System’s subsidiary, community oraffiliated medical centers and are neither employees nor agents of those medical centers, THE HEART HOSPITALBaylor Plano or Baylor Health Care System. ©2012 Baylor Health Care System BID THHBP_347 1.12ADVANCE for NPs & PAs13