Fellow PA Colleague:

June 28, 2008

Attention Kentucky PAs !

It is summer and this is a great time to visit our State Senators and Representatives in their home offices. Call them this week and schedule a meeting or go to lunch with them. Ask what you can do to help them in representing the interests of fellow Kentuckians and ask them to support physician / PA practice in Kentucky.

Our legislative effort in the coming year is to allow Kentucky physicians the option to delegate to their PA limited prescribing of controlled medications when appropriate to their scope of practice. This is our third year seeking this privilege. This will allow physicians in Kentucky to utilize their PAs as they are trained to practice. 

Why are PAs qualified to receive this physician-delegated privilege?     

• PAs are trained by physicians in the medical model as part of a physician / PA team providing patient-centered care, not as independent practitioners.

• PAs receive pharmacology education as part of their curriculum and learn appropriate prescribing in their clinical training and practice with physicians.

• To be eligible to practice, PAs are required to:

• Graduate from a nationally accredited physician assistant program
• Pass a national certification exam
• Log 100 hours of continuing education every two years
• Pass a national recertification exam every six years to assure continued competence

Our legislation will not automatically allow PAs to prescribe controlled medications. The supervising physician and PA will have to specifically request the privilege and submit to the DEA for registration and assignment of a DEA number. 

Physicians and PAs who work in surgery, orthopedics, and emergency medicine say this privilege will allow them to offer more efficient care to the patients. Some PAs express no need for controlled medication prescribing and will not be privileged to do so if they do not complete the application process.

Kentucky will not be blazing a new trail with limited PA prescribing of controlled meds. Kentucky is one of only four states that do not offer physicians this option in their practice. PAs in 46 states have the optional privilege of controlled prescribing. 

No state which has approved physician-supervised PA prescribing of controlled medications has rescinded that decision and no state has reported an increase in problems with controlled medications as a result of PA prescribing. The intent is to improve the availability of high-quality, cost-effective health care to more Kentuckians through the appropriate utilization of Kentucky's PAs.

Attention Kentucky PAs!

• Call your state Senator and Representative and schedule a face to face meeting. 
• Introduce yourself as their constituent.
• Ask what you can do to help them with issues they are working on in the coming session.
• Specifically request their support for physicians in Kentucky to be allowed the option to delegate to their supervised PA limited prescribing of controlled meds where appropriate to their practice. 
• Discuss this with your supervising physician and invite your supervising physician to join you in the meeting.
• Encourage your family, friends, and neighbors to contact their state legislators to support this effort.

Success in this grassroots effort depends on you.

Thanks,
Steve Gaskins, PA-C
KAPA Govt Affairs Committee Chair

Locate Your Kentucky State Senator or Representative