AssistantDoctor Posted May 9, 2017 Share Posted May 9, 2017 Hey fellow PAs, So, I graduated in December. 2015, was certified in December, 2016 and licensed in January, 2017. I will start my first job in June. Is there any CMEs or other things I need to log in my first year of being a PA-C? I would like to know must dos to keep my license active throughout my career. Thanks for any insight and suggestions. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
south Posted May 9, 2017 Share Posted May 9, 2017 In for this one as well. Roughly same timing and have not opened that can of worms yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karakent Posted May 9, 2017 Share Posted May 9, 2017 Check NCCPA website about CME info. Also where you log in on the NCCPA website tells you how much you need and where to log but in a nutshell-- 100 CME every two years Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted May 9, 2017 Moderator Share Posted May 9, 2017 yup, as above. 100 hrs every 2 years, 50 of which must be cat 1. retest every 10 years, although sounds like that may change to a cme only system before your first recert is due per the nccpa letter today. make sure you keep your state license(s) and DEA utd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AssistantDoctor Posted May 10, 2017 Author Share Posted May 10, 2017 Thanks for the info. So, my understanding is that nothing is needed this year but will be logging stuff next year? Also about the recert, based on the changes I see coming, seems like I may not take PANRE in the future. This is great news! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliB Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 As EMED already noted, you need to check your STATE licensing requirements. i.e., my home state MOL requires CME ANNUALLY, not bi-annually (a la NCCPA) ... it may or may not be required your 1st / partial year of licensing, but don't assume. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AssistantDoctor Posted May 10, 2017 Author Share Posted May 10, 2017 ^^^ I'll do that. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d2305 Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 Why do they even bother making us log Cat 2 cme? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted May 10, 2017 Moderator Share Posted May 10, 2017 also individual states may have specific course requirements for license maintenance. mine requires a 6 hr suicide prevention course once. also, easier to log your cme as you go than save it all up and do it later. easy to do on nccpa site. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogLovingPA Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 The NCCPA site will tell you when your first 2 year cycle ends - you must have your 100 hrs by that end date. Also, as others have pointed out, states have certain requirements. Mine requires 2 hours of opioid CME training to renew my license. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SERENITY NOW Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 (edited) I remember feeling similarly confused when first starting out. I really don't think our school told us anything about what to expect after graduating, so we all ended up just stumbling along the process and helping each other out as we went. I'll outlined the steps and what I learned below. Critically important point throughout every step of the way: be incredibly organized from the beginning. Get a scanning app that can immediately store things to the cloud. It will make your life that much easier come credentialing time if you are very organized from the beginning. More on this later... New PA-C To Do List: 1) Pass PANCE... congrats! Follow the steps they give you for after passing... it involves registering on NCCPA website, getting your certificate, etc. Scan all to cloud. 2) Apply for NPI (national provider identifier) - https://nppes.cms.hhs.gov/NPPES/Welcome.do . This is the number unique to every provider (MD, DO, PA, NP) that is used in billing and many other uses. They will ask you to list a business address - be sure NOT to put your personal home address and phone number, since anyone can google your name and the NPI info will come up. If you don't have a job yet, I've heard some people will opt to use their home address temporarily (or preferably, a PO box or something neutral) and just update the website immediately once they get their workplace info. If I remember correctly, I think you are supposed to put your real email the whole time though, which I don't think is listed to the public. Record/jot down your NPI info. Save your username and password since you will have to update this in future. 3) Apply for state medical license, which oftentimes requires multiple steps, online courses to take, etc. This step, as well as hospital credentialing, are the two biggest rate limiting steps that will prevent you from being able to work, so get on top of these ASAP if you want to be able to work as soon as possible. There are sometimes tips/tricks to speed this process up significantly depending on your local medical board - in my state, if we submitted the documents in person at our local office, we'd have our license processed within 5-7 days, but if it were submitted by mail, it would take 1-2 months! Once you get it, save to cloud! 4) Apply for DEA (if you have a job lined up already). This will require a business address, and they won't let you list your home or PO box for this. They typically issue this to you within a few days of applying, so this is something that I think is safely delayed until you get a job, with the added benefit that the job will be able to reimburse it as well. Save to cloud. (it doesn't go well if you list a home address! see thread below) 5) If your state has one, apply for state prescription monitoring program (only required to practice in some states) - this is so that you can cross check other controlled substance prescriptions on your patients who are requesting more. 6) Organize all of the above info really well, since you'll be needing to send it all repeatedly if you get a job. Keep track of your receipts for paying for all of these licensing related fees since many jobs will reimburse you after the fact. Also organize CV, references, cover letters, etc for job applications. 7) Apply for, and get a job (this step can of course happen earlier in the course). Get reimbursements. 8 ) Long credentialing process and hospital onboarding, which can be sped up if you followed step #6. I used my phone to quickly scan all of the sheets I filled out for onboarding so that I could copy/paste for later job onboarding applications to speed things up, or if the credentialing office loses your papers like they did to me, you are 1 click away from resending it instead of having to re-write the whole thing. 9) Keep track of details from your new job as they share them with you for later reference, like malpractice insurance. You'll need a lot of this information for later jobs down the road. Also (not sure how everyone else feels about this?), consider logging bigger procedures if its important to you to be credentialed in them in later jobs too, since you'll need to be able to say you did X # of central lines, LPs, etc. 10) With each new job, make sure you are updating your work / contact info for NPI and DEA information to fit the new hospital. 11) Start keeping track of CME as mentioned in other posts, but really no rush since you have 2 years from initial licensing until you have to submit your first 100. I put this off for quite a while and I still did fine, but if you are worried about falling behind, just use UpToDate and be sure to login to a personal account every time when you search questions on the job... UpToDate will keep track of your CME for you, so you'll be accruing it without even trying. I don't think I'm a super user of UpToDate by any means but I had accrued probably double the amount of required CME just from my typical on the job searches. 12) Keep track of your state medical board requirements. There are often yearly training requirements for things like opioid training. As if I haven't said it enough, I think the most important thing is to save everything and be really organized from the beginning - this will save you a lot of time and stress in the long run. Keep track of all of your paperwork, usernames/logins, important numbers (NPI, DEA, etc), work addresses, professional contact information/networking. I use a mixture of evernote and dropbox so that I can scan things from my phone (using the app 'scannable' which allows direct upload to evernote and dropbox) and auto upload them to the cloud and reference them from anywhere. I can then even send/email all of these documents from my phone to the onboarding people who constantly are sending emails requesting new documents. I would be somewhat cautious about sending some emails which contain information that could later be used by identity thieves. Onboarding often times asks for everything from drivers licenses, social security cards, past addresses for background checks, even bank account info for direct deposit -- if intercepted by malicious people, you could be in trouble. For these emails, I send them using Protonmail, a free emailing service that is much more secure than gmail / apple / etc. Not mandatory, but helps me sleep at night. I'm sure I have missed some things here and there, so please feel free to add to the list... Hope this helps! Edited February 23, 2019 by SERENITY NOW additions 1 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Believe Posted May 11, 2017 Share Posted May 11, 2017 We should make this a sticky 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted May 11, 2017 Moderator Share Posted May 11, 2017 We should make this a sticky DONE 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AssistantDoctor Posted May 11, 2017 Author Share Posted May 11, 2017 Wow! Thanks everyone for the information. SERENITY NOW - Thank you for that detailed list. So helpful! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandidorooobs Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 Is anyone able to shed some light on what tail coverage is and why one would need it? Is this something built into malpractice insurance and that I should be looking/asking for or is it only for certain circumstances. A google search gives me the impression it is to cover the work you did at one employer if you leave and become employed elsewhere?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas5814 Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 Many people have occurrence type malpractice that covers any claim made for an event while that policy was in effect. So if you leave a job and someone sues you for something that happened while you were covered there..you are covered. Claims-made on the other hand only covers you while you are still covered by that policy. So if you leave a job and get sued for something that happened while you were there...no coverage. tail coverage provides that "tail" that is coverage through the statute of limitations period when you could be sued for an event at a position you used to have. Also the same if you have you own insurance and then get coverage elsewhere. You need that "tail" protection. I had a claims-made policy when I was self employed. I am now employed and covered elsewhere. When my personal policy expires in December I will need tail coverage. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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