PSPA had a recent victory with the signing by Governor Rendell of House Bills 1251 and 1252 on July 20th at a ceremony at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. HB 1251 and 1252 allow for the expansion of the PA/physician ratio from the current limit of two to one, now increased to four to one. These bills also removed the limit of physicians that a PA can be responsible to in the hospital from three to unlimited. The primary supervisor in the hospital will be the attending physician or surgeon of record. I was pleased to represent PAs that day to stand behind the Governor as he signed our bills, as well as other health care reform bills.

These two bills, which are identical versions for both PAs who are supervised by MDs as well as PAs who are supervised by DOs, will make more jobs available for PAs and allow for better utilization of PAs in the hospital setting.

Many of you will have seen alot of information in the press about the expansion of the scope of practice of Nurse Practitioners, Nurse Midwives, Clinical Nurse Specialists and Dental Hygienists, so the gains that were made by HB 1251 and 1252 may seem small in comparison. I want to assure you that we are continuing to work, along with our lobbyists, to negotiate the same rights that were given to our NP colleaugues in bills signed into law by the Governor on the same day as our two bills.

We have a new liaison to the Pennsylvania Medical Society(PMS), Karen Sweeney who was present with me to witness the signing of our bills. She will work with PMS to obtain the rights that we seek, such as being able to order home health care, PT, hospice, durable medical goods etc. I personally will work through the Governor's Office of Health Care Reform, as your new liaison to that office, to get bills passed that are nearly identical to the bill that expanded the scope of practice of Nurse Practitioners. I will make it clear that we are dependent practictioners who work as part of the physician-led physician/PA team, with appropriate supervision as the specific circumstances require.

The Governor told a story about a physician who wrote him a letter asking him to not forget about PAs in his health care reform efforts. The physician told the Governor that his PA enabled him to expand his services by 50%. The Governor remembered this letter and repeated it to a room full of people and press who were present to watch him sign the first of the health care reform packages that were passed at the end of the legislative session. This illiustrates that a letter to the Governor or your legislator can make a big impact. Please stay tuned for more victories to come when the legislature re-opens in the Fall and be prepared to call, write or visit your legislator when we call upon you to help us in our lobbying efforts.

Thank you for your patience and assistance. Let's celebrate this victory and get the word out to physicians and hospitals before this bill goes into effect in 60 days from the signature on July 20th.

As published in the PSPA News, Fall 2007