HR 1148 -- Protecting PA Jobs -- Speak Up About This Bill

[cosborn]

Some of you remember the threads about opposing HR 3032. This would have given the 'Super Tech' medicare reimbursement and essentially posed them to take jobs away from us. That bill died, but has now been reintroduced as HR 1148.

 

HR 1148 is job encroachment. If passed, it will stagnate Physician Assistants from advancing into this specialty. I know that most of you are not working in Radiology and may think why bother. But this is an important detail that needs to be addressed by all PAs.

 

If you are supportive of PA advancement throughout all areas of medicine, you need to speak up about this bill. The default position will be to pass HR 1148 unless we can speak up and mention ourselves as better candidates for the job, which we are. RAs/RPAs are not medical providers as they would have you believe. They cannot write drug orders and have limited abilities managing patients.

 

As before, please let your representative know that PAs are already working in Radiology and that we are better equipped to manage patients than RAs/RPAs. I wrote a letter last year opposing HR 3032 that I sent to a number of Reps. I am posting it below. Please use it as a guide to inform your Representative. Change it to your liking or just mail it off as is.

 

Snail mail is always better than email, but something is definitely better than nothing. An easy way of checking the status of the bill and even contacting your Rep is through PopVox. Last go around we had a lot of great comments from the PA community. Please log-on and do the same this time. Here is the direct link:

 

https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/113/hr1148

 

 

 

Dear Representative:

 

 

I am a Physician Assistant working in *Interventional Radiology* at *******. I am writing this letter in opposition to H.R. 1148, the Medicare Access to Radiology Care Act.

 

As you may know, my profession has become integral to our healthcare system, increasing access to patient care while containing cost. This has allowed us to become widely recognized, fulfilling roles in every field of medicine, including Radiology. In this specialty, I provide much needed services to patients in a timely matter as delegated by my supervising radiologist.

 

The Radiologist Assistants have conversely labeled their absence in the Radiology field as a ‘crisis’ to patient care. H.R. 1148 would amend the Social Security Act so they can receive Medicare reimbursement. Let me assure you that there is no ‘crisis’ and that this role is already being fulfilled by Physician Assistants, like myself.

 

My job duties, like the rest of the Radiology Physician Assistants across the country, match and exceed that of the proposed Radiologist Assistant. The names are very similar but our capabilities stand apart. At the delegation of a physician, physician assistants can perform procedures, manage patients, write drug orders, and interpret diagnostic tests. This is far beyond the scope of practice of a Radiologist Assistant.

 

Unnecessary redundancy should be avoided and the passage of H.R. 1148 would further complicate an already complicated healthcare system. What we need is not the addition of another ‘assistant’ or ‘allied health’ profession but focused expansions of the existing ones. Please consider opposing H.R. 1148, the Medicare Access to Radiology Care Act.

 

 

Sincerely,

[cosborn]

Some of you remember the threads about opposing HR 3032. This would have given the 'Super Tech' medicare reimbursement and essentially posed them to take jobs away from us. That bill died, but has now been reintroduced as HR 1148.

 

HR 1148 is job encroachment. If passed, it will stagnate Physician Assistants from advancing into this specialty. I know that most of you are not working in Radiology and may think why bother. But this is an important detail that needs to be addressed by all PAs.

 

If you are supportive of PA advancement throughout all areas of medicine, you need to speak up about this bill. The default position will be to pass HR 1148 unless we can speak up and mention ourselves as better candidates for the job, which we are. RAs/RPAs are not medical providers as they would have you believe. They cannot write drug orders and have limited abilities managing patients.

 

As before, please let your representative know that PAs are already working in Radiology and that we are better equipped to manage patients than RAs/RPAs. I wrote a letter last year opposing HR 3032 that I sent to a number of Reps. I am posting it below. Please use it as a guide to inform your Representative. Change it to your liking or just mail it off as is.

 

Snail mail is always better than email, but something is definitely better than nothing. An easy way of checking the status of the bill and even contacting your Rep is through PopVox. Last go around we had a lot of great comments from the PA community. Please log-on and do the same this time. Here is the direct link:

 

https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/113/hr1148

 

 

 

Dear Representative:

 

 

I am a Physician Assistant working in *Interventional Radiology* at *******. I am writing this letter in opposition to H.R. 1148, the Medicare Access to Radiology Care Act.

 

As you may know, my profession has become integral to our healthcare system, increasing access to patient care while containing cost. This has allowed us to become widely recognized, fulfilling roles in every field of medicine, including Radiology. In this specialty, I provide much needed services to patients in a timely matter as delegated by my supervising radiologist.

 

The Radiologist Assistants have conversely labeled their absence in the Radiology field as a ‘crisis’ to patient care. H.R. 1148 would amend the Social Security Act so they can receive Medicare reimbursement. Let me assure you that there is no ‘crisis’ and that this role is already being fulfilled by Physician Assistants, like myself.

 

My job duties, like the rest of the Radiology Physician Assistants across the country, match and exceed that of the proposed Radiologist Assistant. The names are very similar but our capabilities stand apart. At the delegation of a physician, physician assistants can perform procedures, manage patients, write drug orders, and interpret diagnostic tests. This is far beyond the scope of practice of a Radiologist Assistant.

 

Unnecessary redundancy should be avoided and the passage of H.R. 1148 would further complicate an already complicated healthcare system. What we need is not the addition of another ‘assistant’ or ‘allied health’ profession but focused expansions of the existing ones. Please consider opposing H.R. 1148, the Medicare Access to Radiology Care Act.

 

 

Sincerely,

[cosborn]

Some of you remember the threads about opposing HR 3032. This would have given the 'Super Tech' medicare reimbursement and essentially posed them to take jobs away from us. That bill died, but has now been reintroduced as HR 1148.

 

HR 1148 is job encroachment. If passed, it will stagnate Physician Assistants from advancing into this specialty. I know that most of you are not working in Radiology and may think why bother. But this is an important detail that needs to be addressed by all PAs.

 

If you are supportive of PA advancement throughout all areas of medicine, you need to speak up about this bill. The default position will be to pass HR 1148 unless we can speak up and mention ourselves as better candidates for the job, which we are. RAs/RPAs are not medical providers as they would have you believe. They cannot write drug orders and have limited abilities managing patients.

 

As before, please let your representative know that PAs are already working in Radiology and that we are better equipped to manage patients than RAs/RPAs. I wrote a letter last year opposing HR 3032 that I sent to a number of Reps. I am posting it below. Please use it as a guide to inform your Representative. Change it to your liking or just mail it off as is.

 

Snail mail is always better than email, but something is definitely better than nothing. An easy way of checking the status of the bill and even contacting your Rep is through PopVox. Last go around we had a lot of great comments from the PA community. Please log-on and do the same this time. Here is the direct link:

 

https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/113/hr1148

 

 

 

Dear Representative:

 

 

I am a Physician Assistant working in *Interventional Radiology* at *******. I am writing this letter in opposition to H.R. 1148, the Medicare Access to Radiology Care Act.

 

As you may know, my profession has become integral to our healthcare system, increasing access to patient care while containing cost. This has allowed us to become widely recognized, fulfilling roles in every field of medicine, including Radiology. In this specialty, I provide much needed services to patients in a timely matter as delegated by my supervising radiologist.

 

The Radiologist Assistants have conversely labeled their absence in the Radiology field as a ‘crisis’ to patient care. H.R. 1148 would amend the Social Security Act so they can receive Medicare reimbursement. Let me assure you that there is no ‘crisis’ and that this role is already being fulfilled by Physician Assistants, like myself.

 

My job duties, like the rest of the Radiology Physician Assistants across the country, match and exceed that of the proposed Radiologist Assistant. The names are very similar but our capabilities stand apart. At the delegation of a physician, physician assistants can perform procedures, manage patients, write drug orders, and interpret diagnostic tests. This is far beyond the scope of practice of a Radiologist Assistant.

 

Unnecessary redundancy should be avoided and the passage of H.R. 1148 would further complicate an already complicated healthcare system. What we need is not the addition of another ‘assistant’ or ‘allied health’ profession but focused expansions of the existing ones. Please consider opposing H.R. 1148, the Medicare Access to Radiology Care Act.

 

 

Sincerely,

[Gordon, PA-C]

What exactly does and RA/RPA do? I've never heard of such a person. Do they order imaging studies? Do they move the x-ray plate over the patient? What exactly are they trying to "bill" for?

[Gordon, PA-C]

What exactly does and RA/RPA do? I've never heard of such a person. Do they order imaging studies? Do they move the x-ray plate over the patient? What exactly are they trying to "bill" for?

[Gordon, PA-C]

What exactly does and RA/RPA do? I've never heard of such a person. Do they order imaging studies? Do they move the x-ray plate over the patient? What exactly are they trying to "bill" for?

[ToppDog]

There was already another thread on this a while back. They are trying to be trained/allowed to perform invasive radiographic procedures such as angiograms, etc. They are not trying to get a license to practice medicine in a broader sense.

[ToppDog]

There was already another thread on this a while back. They are trying to be trained/allowed to perform invasive radiographic procedures such as angiograms, etc. They are not trying to get a license to practice medicine in a broader sense.

[ToppDog]

There was already another thread on this a while back. They are trying to be trained/allowed to perform invasive radiographic procedures such as angiograms, etc. They are not trying to get a license to practice medicine in a broader sense.

[cosborn]

RA/RPAs are advanced practiced radiology techs that have gone to school to expand their scope of practice. They refer to themselves as "physician extenders" in the radiology world. I have a problem with this firstly because they call themselves "physician extenders" but more importantly, they are still very limited (cannot order drugs or manage patients from a medical aspect). I think they are not good candidates for the job and PAs are much better suited to fill the role. Ignorance favors the RAs/RPAs because they label their absence as a patient crisis. And, since there are few Radiology PAs across the country, most Radiologists don't even know that there is a better option out there.

 

These 'super techs' would be doing paracentesis, thoracentesis, invasive angio procedures, biopsies, etc... Radiology is ideal for future PA growth. I have been doing it for 3 years now and most Radiologists can't imagine their lives without me. If you like the idea of working in Radiology as a PA, you should oppose this bill. If passed, it will definitely make it much more difficult for PA job growth in this field.

[cosborn]

RA/RPAs are advanced practiced radiology techs that have gone to school to expand their scope of practice. They refer to themselves as "physician extenders" in the radiology world. I have a problem with this firstly because they call themselves "physician extenders" but more importantly, they are still very limited (cannot order drugs or manage patients from a medical aspect). I think they are not good candidates for the job and PAs are much better suited to fill the role. Ignorance favors the RAs/RPAs because they label their absence as a patient crisis. And, since there are few Radiology PAs across the country, most Radiologists don't even know that there is a better option out there.

 

These 'super techs' would be doing paracentesis, thoracentesis, invasive angio procedures, biopsies, etc... Radiology is ideal for future PA growth. I have been doing it for 3 years now and most Radiologists can't imagine their lives without me. If you like the idea of working in Radiology as a PA, you should oppose this bill. If passed, it will definitely make it much more difficult for PA job growth in this field.

[CoastalPalm]

Perhaps this document would be helpful in understanding the activities of the Radiologist Assistant, according to the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists.

 

https://www.arrt.org/pdfs/RRA/RRA-Handbook.pdf#page=29

[CoastalPalm]

Perhaps this document would be helpful in understanding the activities of the Radiologist Assistant, according to the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists.

 

https://www.arrt.org/pdfs/RRA/RRA-Handbook.pdf#page=29

[cosborn]

Pages 32-34 show the job description of the RPA. Read it and judge for yourself. Doesn't this sound a little ambitious for a radiology tech, especially when you see that the RPA will be doing invasive procedures and performing moderate sedation? I don't think it's appropriate for RPAs to be placing needles into livers among other invasive procedures like central lines and lung biopsies. What happens when sometime goes wrong? In my practice I have had two patients crump on me (one in the middle of a central line and the other during a lung biopsy). I was able to work them up immediately and had good outcomes. But, an RPA cannot write/issue drug orders. It must come directly from the radiologist. So, if the RPA has a complication and the radiologist is not in the room, what then? I think RPAs represent a safety issue and feel PAs are much better equipped for the job. Please respond with your thoughts and write to your representative if you agree with me.

[Gordon, PA-C]

Pages 32-34 show the job description of the RPA. Read it and judge for yourself. Doesn't this sound a little ambitious for a radiology tech, especially when you see that the RPA will be doing invasive procedures and performing moderate sedation? I don't think it's appropriate for RPAs to be placing needles into livers among other invasive procedures like central lines and lung biopsies. What happens when sometime goes wrong? In my practice I have had two patients crump on me (one in the middle of a central line and the other during a lung biopsy). I was able to work them up immediately and had good outcomes. But, an RPA cannot write/issue drug orders. It must come directly from the radiologist. So, if the RPA has a complication and the radiologist is not in the room, what then? I think RPAs represent a safety issue and feel PAs are much better equipped for the job. Please respond with your thoughts and write to your representative if you agree with me.

 

X-ray techs (the same people that position the plates over the patient) are allowed to do LPs and liver injections? Wow I never heard of something so absurd.