Fwd: From PAMED - TAKE ACTION: KEEP THE TEAM TOGETHER
DonnaBav...@aol.com
From: alli...@pamedsoc.org
Sent: 5/17/2016 11:09:13 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: TAKE ACTION: KEEP THE TEAM TOGETHERUrgent Action Needed: Vote Scheduled on SB 717 (CRNP Independent Licensure)
This Wed., May 18, the Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee will vote on SB 717, legislation that allows CRNPs in Pennsylvania to practice independently and eliminates the requirement that they collaborate with physicians. Please take action prior to Wednesday's vote. Call your state Senator today to express your strong opposition to SB 717, with or without amendment. If your Senator is on this committee (check here to find out), it's especially important that you take action prior to Wednesday's vote. Learn More
Urgent Action Needed: Vote Scheduled on SB 717 (CRNP Independent Licensure)
Service Line: Practice of Medicine
Article Properties: Free, Advocacy Link, No CME Hours
Downloads: CRNP Bill - Collaboration FAQ Flyer, Education Training Matters - CRNP
On Wed., May 18, 2016, the Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee will vote on SB 717, legislation that allows CRNPs in Pennsylvania to practice independently and eliminates the requirement that they collaborate with physicians. In effect, this legislation would give CRNPs equal clinical authority to primary care physicians. It grants them full independent practice authority several years before a physician can obtain the same and with thousands of hours less training.
Please TAKE ACTION prior to Wednesday's vote. Call your state Senator to express your strong opposition to SB 717, with or without amendment. Urge your Senator to vote NO on this legislation.
Nurses are contacting legislators in large numbers to support their independent practice. Physicians need to respond accordingly to protect quality patient care in Pennsylvania.
As physicians, we owe it to patients to speak up on this issue. We all can agree that CRNPs play a valuable role in the delivery of health care, but they are not physicians. The depth and the breadth of CRNP education and training does not sufficiently prepare them for the wide array of challenges that confront the independent practitioner. No matter the confidence that CRNPs may exude in pushing for independent practice, the fact of the matter is, you don't know what you don't know. The collaborative agreement ensures that patients have direct access to a physician when their care requires a more highly trained professional.
As physicians, no matter our specialty, we owe it to ourselves and to our colleagues to speak up on this issue. Following four rigorous years of medical education, we each chose a path and complete a period of clinical residency that varies in length by specialty. Primary care is a medical specialty in its own right, and not respecting it as such will only result in our health care system becoming increasingly fragmented and inefficient.