12/13/2012

PAs to Get Schedule II Authority in March 2013

HB284 received concurrence in the House today so it is now off to the Governor's Desk.  He has 10 days after delivery to sign the bill.  Delivery is usually in a few days.  Even if he doesn't sign it (which he will do because of his interest in the veteran license issue) it will still become law without his signature.  Lobbyist Lestini will have his office request a photo opportunity at the signing but the Governor does not grant all requests.  The bill will become effective 90 days after the Governor signs it.

Concurrence on the Senate amendments was not unanimous.  There were objections by some Democrats on language in SB287 (which was amended into HB284 on the Senate Floor yesterday) that dealt with removing some type of insurance coverage for wheelchairs.  After Representative Gonzales gave a speech asking for support of the amendments, Representative Yuko gave a speech opposing the amendments and then Representative Letson gave a speech supporting the amendments and advised that he will introduce a bill next year to reinstate the wheelchair coverage.

We have heard that the Medical Board is already beginning work on the rules associated with the new statutes in order to have them ready when the bill becomes effective in March 2013.

Many thanks to Josanne Pagel for her dedication and perseverance and our thanks, also, to those who took the time to testify or arrange for their physicians to do so and to all of you that took the time to contact your legislators.  Thank you all.

As a reminder, the bill will:

1. Allow PAs to make pronouncements of death.  Physicians may rely on this pronouncement when they sign a death certificate.
2. Allow PAs to insert and remove chest tubes and prescribe PT and OT treatment.
3. Give PAs schedule II prescriptive authority.
4. Exempt out of state PAs from the prescriptive provisional period if they provide an affidavit of prescriptive authority from another jurisdiction to the Ohio State Medical Board; (the PA must still obtain the 45 hours of continuing medical education before applying for the certificate to prescribe).
5. Improve the process for amending the PA formulary in response to the Medical Boards’ desire to update the formulary in a more timely fashion (since      2006, the formulary has been updated only once.)
6. Clarify PA authority to provide emergency services and direct emergency service      providers
7. Allow PAs to write DNR orders.
8. Allow PAs to practice in times of a natural disaster, under the supervision of the medical director in charge of that disaster site.
9. Provide veterans with the ability to practice when those veterans have training and experience equivalent to a master’s lever training program in a    traditional PA program.