AAPA has me torqued!!

[scut-monkey]

Has anyone seen the most recent publication by AAPA--one which I would call a throw-away journal? It's the one that has some great articles about the history of the profession, but...

 

On the one page, they have a little article stating that as of Sept. 1, the membership fee will increase by $25/year. Now, they just had an increase last year. Several pages later, they had a "wonderful" how-to article giving us ways to promote our profession. Isn't that what the AAPA is supposed to be doing, being an advocate for the profession? They are increasing the membership fee and still expecting us to promote ourselves, yikes!!

 

I know that this has been a continual beef, but this is probably the straw that is breaking this camel's back. I've been an AAPA member for about 22 years now. Back then, we got free cat CME I with the journal, and a reduced rate for logging our CME--neither of which are relevant at this point. I think that I'm going to forego my AAPA membership, but continue to support my state society, and use the money that I saved for a donation to their PAC fund.

[physasst]

DO you really want the AAPA to go the way of the AMA? Really? Cause that's what's happening. PA membership is falling from what I can tell, although I don't have the exact numbers, and things change. We saw a dramatically decreased attendance at Atlanta (which may have just been Atlanta, no offense to any Georgians implied), but I imagine the same is happening in membership numbers. We are already completely revising the HOD mechanism, and speaking as a member of an AAPA Council, face to face meetings don't happen anymore. Travel is limited. We need all the support we can get. That's my 0.02 cents.

[EMEDPA]

maybe if the aapa would do some visible PR(like we have been asking for at least as long as I have been a pa) more folks would renew. I renew every yr but it's a freebie from work..... I have heard all the arguments but at some point aapa leadership should look at what we want in addition to what we need. I agree an ad in the congressional letter is nice(however poorly done it was...hard to tell that the folks in the picture were even pa's) but what we want is public awareness of who we are. we are not talking time magazine here but how about late night radio all over the country? those ads are so cheap they almost give the slots away.

that being said they are doing a MUCH better job than even 5 yrs ago so I am hopeful that they are finally getting their act together.

[DJ Bunnell MSHS PA-C]

There has been a radio campaign promoting CRNAs in the DC area for about a month or two.

[kittryn]

I dropped my membership 2 years ago. same reason.

[Evan]

I do have to agree with the AAPA on one thing: we ARE our own best advocates... that being said, if we're paying for advocacy through the AAPA we should be seeing SOME kind of return on that investment...

 

I'd put a plug in for the state societies though... (at least in our case) they do a wonderful job with very limited resources...

[physasst]

The results on doing advertising campaigns is very poor. I think it was the AAP, who did a HUGE advertising campaign about Pediatrics a few years back, and spent millions, and millions of dollars, with no change in volume, etc.

 

A much, much better approach, would be to connect with shows like Sanjay Gupta's, and have them do a special on PA's, and their contributions to medicine. It would give us national exposure, and wouldn't cost much.

 

I have no faith at all, that spending money on some national PR blitz is going to change ANYTHING for PA's. That does not seem to be the case, unless it is specifically targeted towards a specific issue. What would be your defined endpoint? What are you trying to advertise? What SPECIFIC services? Should they run an ad campaign like the AMA targeting the SGR issue?

 

Just running an ad campaign saying "PA's are great" is silly, and likely a HUGE waste of money, time, and resources. I think perhaps a more targeted, low scale approach will have more yield per dollar spent. But, that's my opinion, and I recognize that others feel differently.

 

I would rather have the AAPA spending money on a professional lobbying organization and ensuring that ANY health legislation proposal in ANY state is reviewed and approved by the AAPA first. That's the important stuff.

 

I've said it before, if you want a national ad campaign, HOW much is every PA willing to donate? I bet if the AAPA knew that even 50% of PA's (37,000) would be willing to give an extra 200 dollars per year, we could get an ad campaign at least started. The AMA gets a huge amount of money from JAMA, ad's, and donations from members...How many PA's give to the PAC every year? How many would be willing to donate to a branch of the AAPA to run an advertising campaign?

 

That's what needs to happen. The AAPA needs to stay focused on legislative issues...ESPECIALLY right now, as a lot of the specific items of the ACA are being implemented...

[EMEDPA]

 

Just running an ad campaign saying "PA's are great" is silly, and likely a HUGE waste of money, time, and resources. I think perhaps a more targeted, low scale approach will have more yield per dollar spent. =.

 

something like this perhaps:

a nice 30 second spot outlining the work of a rural fp pa would be great:

"john smith is the only medical provider in backwater tennesee. he sees 30-40 patients/day with every type of medical condition imaginable. he delivers babies and stabilizes patients with heart attacks. he fixes dislocated shoulders and treats ear infections at 3 am. he has 6 years of college education in addition to his prior training and experience as a paramedic in memphis. john is a physician assistant. he works as part of a team with drs at xyz medical ctr 50 miles away. john is noyt a medical assistant, he is a physician assistant trained at the graduate level to deliver professional care.

PA's, bridging the gap in rural health care so all americans can get the medical care they need and deserve.....for more info on medical providers like john please see www.aapa.org/modernheroes"

[Iain1028]

I stopped my membership after PA school.

 

It is way expensive and they do nothing to advertise the PA profession.

[physasst]

something like this perhaps:

a nice 30 second spot outlining the work of a rural fp pa would be great:

"john smith is the only medical provider in backwater tennesee. he sees 30-40 patients/day with every type of medical condition imaginable. he delivers babies and stabilizes patients with heart attacks. he fixes dislocated shoulders and treats ear infections at 3 am. he has 6 years of college education in addition to his prior training and experience as a paramedic in memphis. john is a physician assistant. he works as part of a team with drs at xyz medical ctr 50 miles away. john is noyt a medical assistant, he is a physician assistant trained at the graduate level to deliver professional care.

PA's, bridging the gap in rural health care so all americans can get the medical care they need and deserve.....for more info on medical providers like john please see www.aapa.org/modernheroes"

 

Where would you want that ad? Why that one? I'm not trying to be rude E, not at all, so please don't take it as such. But I know, that if I saw an ad like that for another profession, I would be like "Who cares?" And I would go to the bathroom, finish my email, etc.

 

Kind of like the beating that every PhD takes when they submit their proposal...."SO WHAT?"

 

Also, a 30 second ad spot on Radio costs roughly 100 dollars per, and this might be an avenue to pursue. TV ads are ridiculous. Primetime ads START at about 200,000 per ad, and can be as high as 600,000 depending on the show. TO say nothing of the cost of making such an ad.

 

Do you think people will remember it? Outside of our profession, do you think people will be talking about the ad? What exactly does it buy us? Do you think people will remember the ad when they go to the doctor? To the ER? As Rod's last study showed, people WANT to see a physician in the ED. Will the talk about it the next day? Outside of PA's who will love it, of course, will people pay any attention? The pediatric experience would say not really.

 

We have maybe (and I'm guessing based on the last numbers I saw for the AAPA war chest) 15 million on hand. At 400,000 per ad (median cost) on primetime TV, we could run a total of 30 ads, after spending to MAKE the ad, and we would likely be out of money or close to it, and have little left for the important work left at the legislative and state levels.

 

I think perhaps a better approach would be to do a combined PA/NP ad, which would considerably ease the financial burden, partnering with the AANP might be an avenue. Again, I ask, how much extra would PA's be willing to contribute? If we (AAPA) formed an advertising campaign committee, would PA's give extra money?

 

As my friend and yours has said, there is no real difference between an NP and/or PA in practice. Educationally, they are different, but there is not a SINGLE study which shows PA's are superior. In fact, the only credible study shows that PA's, NP's, and MD's are essentially equivalent on most disease management, and NP's are likely better than PA's or MD's on one.

 

I'm not against this concept, so please, don't think that I am, but rather, in my mind, it is about prioritizing, and there are some HUGE dragons to slay out there with potentially huge results, versus an expensive one with unclear objectives and/or outcomes. If someone can provide real, hard data to suggest otherwise, I might change my mind.

[EMEDPA]

remember the DO ad campaign about a decade ago? done by the same folks as the "got milk" ads.

that was the turning point that got folks thinking about DO's as physicians equivalent to md's with something extra( OMM) to add. before that most folks thought of them as chiropractors. they ran 2 or 3 ads in 2 or 3 magazines for 2 or 3 months and WHAM, paradigm shift, suddenly it's cool to go to a DO because they do more than traditional md's.

there are many more pa's than DO's. I asked steve hanson in the physician associate thread if he would be in favor of a checkbox on the aapa dues statement for a contribution to be spent only on PR. he never answered me but just talked about what the academy was currently doing instead(congressional letter ads-etc). I for one would donate yearly if the aapa had a fund to be spent only on PR.

the poster above who said he dropped his membership after graduation is fairly typical. I would wager that if the aapa ran a major PR campaign folks would come flocking back in droves and renew their memberships at a very high level. if you ask 100 pa's what they want from the aapa > 80 of them will say PR. so why isn't anyone listening.....instead they have to spend money on blocking legislation against partial birth abortions? not exactly a pa related issue of great importance....

the only PR out there now comes from individual pa's making news in a good or bad way; cheney's pa during the "hunting incident" and occasional pa's doing less than ethical things...

[EMEDPA]

re: association with np's. I am in favor of this if they publicly endorse a collaborative model with physicians. if not we will get tarred with the same brush of "wanting independence" which does not serve us well as a profession at the current time. look on sdn for example at the number of med students and residents who think pa's are pushing for independent practice....we can't get caught up in that.

[andersenpa]

Any PR campaign will be valuable, but it will probably not yield quickly measurable results. No the point is not an ad saying PAs are great, it's an ad saying WHAT PAs ARE....which is where we are right now. Patients, the public, don't know. They don't know our skills, training, practice models, place in the medical home, etc.

 

I remain a big supporter of the AAPA and my state chapter, every year. Anyone with half a brain who reads the emails/newsletters/journals knows that the AAPA is pushing legislation. That's not the issue at hand; rather, what motivation does the AAPA have to acknowledge its constituents' concerns? Whether it's in JAAPA or here on the forum when we've had AAPA visitors, the response is almost universally dismissive- that's not a priority. Again, a priority to who?

 

If you asked someone with a bunch of money if spending a bunch of "their" money is a priority, they'd probably find a way to convince you that it's not.

 

We live in the modern age. Quit spending so much money on a national conference that gets poor attendance, put the CME completely on line, use e-meetings, cut travel and hard copy expenses. You'd get more PAs doing the AAPA CME, they'd have more money in their pockets and might be more inclined to contribute to a PAC or PR campaign.

[physasst]

re: association with np's. I am in favor of this if they publicly endorse a collaborative model with physicians. if not we will get tarred with the same brush of "wanting independence" which does not serve us well as a profession at the current time. look on sdn for example at the number of med students and residents who think pa's are pushing for independent practice....we can't get caught up in that.

 

I know, but I also think that most physicians, and even institutions think of them as interchangeable. When pretty much any PA job is advertised here, it is for a PA or NP. People ask me which one I prefer, and I always answer that their credentials are irrelevant to me. Experience, and most importantly personality matter more during the interview process. I agree that the content of the ad would have to be favorable to both professions.

[physasst]

Any PR campaign will be valuable, but it will probably not yield quickly measurable results. No the point is not an ad saying PAs are great, it's an ad saying WHAT PAs ARE....which is where we are right now. Patients, the public, don't know. They don't know our skills, training, practice models, place in the medical home, etc.

 

I remain a big supporter of the AAPA and my state chapter, every year. Anyone with half a brain who reads the emails/newsletters/journals knows that the AAPA is pushing legislation. That's not the issue at hand; rather, what motivation does the AAPA have to acknowledge its constituents' concerns? Whether it's in JAAPA or here on the forum when we've had AAPA visitors, the response is almost universally dismissive- that's not a priority. Again, a priority to who?

 

If you asked someone with a bunch of money if spending a bunch of "their" money is a priority, they'd probably find a way to convince you that it's not.

 

We live in the modern age. Quit spending so much money on a national conference that gets poor attendance, put the CME completely on line, use e-meetings, cut travel and hard copy expenses. You'd get more PAs doing the AAPA CME, they'd have more money in their pockets and might be more inclined to contribute to a PAC or PR campaign.

 

Andersen, I agree. My point is not to be dismissive, but rather to really ascertain what the outcome is intended to be. Otherwise it seems to be basically just patting each other on the back at a huge expense.

 

As far as the national conference, that needs to continue. We need to have a flagship conference for the profession. Things have changed though. I sit on one of the AAPA councils, and only the Chairs of each committee or council have their travel paid for to the meeting. We no longer meet in person. Conference calls are the currency of the day. We are doing more e-meetings. On a personal note, I think that their could be big revisions to the HOD. It has perhaps outlived it's current structure, and I think that perhaps 3-4 e meetings per year of the HOD would be much better. The AAPA is reducing expenses and looking at ways to become more efficient and streamlined.

 

I think however, that the national meeting should continue, perhaps in a leaner fashion. Today, ANY spending by the academy needs to be thought of critically.

 

Lastly, I would only say that I am talking with CNN about something for PA Day, but the reception has been lukewarm so far. But stay tuned.

[delco714]

The nursing union, repping NPs, would never allow a PR campaign to be ran with both professions involved. They would never say hey looks at us, the two mid-level providers here to save the healthcare field. Imho and from what I have seen, the nursing union is a freight train with no brakes, ready to pummell anyone in the way. Them joining us would just serve to hold them back (from their perspective). Our best bet would be an aapa/ama pr campaign. "This partnership is here to keep you healthy, blah blah."

[andersenpa]

The nursing union, repping NPs, would never allow a PR campaign to be ran with both professions involved. They would never say hey looks at us, the two mid-level providers here to save the healthcare field. Imho and from what I have seen, the nursing union is a freight train with no brakes, ready to pummell anyone in the way. Them joining us would just serve to hold them back (from their perspective). Our best bet would be an aapa/ama pr campaign. "This partnership is here to keep you healthy, blah blah."

 

Agree 100%, PAs would be written as ancillary to nursing services.

[scut-monkey]

physasst--so what has AAPA done for me? I have been a PA in PA for over twenty years--where were they when we fought to get prescriptive priveleges for PAs who were licensed under the Osteopathic Board when our Medical Board PAs already had prescriptive authority, and the other countless fights that we as Pennsylvanian PAs have been fighting for years. From where I stand, I don't see them helping "me" or my state. I still, every day, am likened to a nurse or medical assistant, even after 20 years in the profession. I get tired of hearing the "aren't you done with your training yet?" after 20 years. If I am to request a salary profile, then I have to pay for it--information that I and other PAs have furnished to them, even as a member of the AAPA. They came out with a really great designation of "Distinguished Fellow" a couple of years ago, but again, I would have to pay to receive it, what's with that??

 

I am just not seeing what the Academy is doing for me, or my state.

[rcdavis]

amen scut, amen.

[physasst]

The nursing union, repping NPs, would never allow a PR campaign to be ran with both professions involved. They would never say hey looks at us, the two mid-level providers here to save the healthcare field. Imho and from what I have seen, the nursing union is a freight train with no brakes, ready to pummell anyone in the way. Them joining us would just serve to hold them back (from their perspective). Our best bet would be an aapa/ama pr campaign. "This partnership is here to keep you healthy, blah blah."

 

I disagree with this, some of my friends include the president of the AANC, and the current president of the AANP. You might be really surprised how open they are to more interaction and joint ventures. Much more than most PA's think. The AAPA's role has never, NOR should it ever be as an advertising agency. They are an advocacy arm, and primarily work with State Academies, and on federal legislation. This is their focus, and where they are needed.

 

Personally, not speaking for any organization, or anyone else, but IMO, advertising is a complete waste of time. Educational programming, interviews on CNN, stories like the recent NPR one, and others are the way to spread the message. Advertising is spending a lot of money with little potential yield. That's my opinion at least. I recognize that many others don't share it.