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Collaborative Practice Legislation
Resources:
HB 1310 | SB 5633 Update
My fellow PAs and supporters of PA collaborative practice in WA state, Despite our best efforts and the groundswell of support, HB 1310 and SB 5633, establishing PA collaborative practice, will not advance from committee this year. We garnered great momentum going into the session and had a successful lobby day. However, this was the first year PA collaborative practice was officially considered by the Legislature, and it is common for legislation to require a multi-year effort to pass. We learned a lot from the session which will help our efforts next year. Representative Marcus Riccelli, the chair of the House Health Care and Wellness Committee, will support our efforts again next year and has said he will encourage WSMA to reach a compromise. We will have another opportunity to write a bill that reflects the reality of our collaboration, and that work will happen between now and next session. We will compromise when needed but never dilute our intent. We are committed to advocating for PAs in Washington and ensuring that our voices are heard. We believe that this bill is critical for the advancement of the PA profession and we will not stop working until it becomes a reality. Thank you to all who volunteered countless hours in this effort. You are the glue that will keep this momentum going. We are not done. We appreciate your ongoing support and commitment. We will be keeping you informed of developments as we work on the bill we will propose next year. President's Message from Eileen Ravella, PA-C
I hope everyone is staying warm and enjoying family and friends during the holidays. We have a hard legislative road ahead and we need your help to pass collaborative legislation. PAs in the state of Washington are challenged with an antiquated supervision law, impacting employability. Your individual and collective support is crucial to successfully pass legislation for collaborative practice. We have support and opposition from powerful organizations most impactful opposition is from WSMA. WSMA has more PA members than WAPA and WSMA opposes you! Our fight is for our survival as a profession in Washington. We have heard from many PAs across the state who are negatively impacted by the administrative burden of supervision. We must pass collaborative practice to advance PA employability. If you are a PA member of WSMA, let them know how this is impacting PAs and consider rescinding your membership because money talks. Why are we stymied by an organization that opposes our very existence? Why do nurse practitioners, physical therapists, optometrists, naturopaths and pharmacists have their own regulatory body? Why are they allowed to call themselves "Doctor", and we fight to be called physician associate? Why are we expected to fall in line and be grateful for a place at the table with our physician colleagues? Why must we fight hospital medical staff for a voice where decisions are made about us? Why? Because the law says highly educated PAs need a supervising physician, the state medical association views this as a liability! The reality of how we practice is starkly different in many settings. We must change the law to reflect this reality. We don't need direct supervision. Period. If you are comfortable in your current position as I am, then you are fortunate. But we as a collective, owe it to our profession and colleagues to fight WSMA. Talk to your representatives, they want to hear from you. These are crucial conversations. You will receive bill specifics and bullet points to guide the conversation with your physician colleagues, legislator and stakeholders. Our legislative day is on Thursday, February 2, 2023. Please email [email protected] if you are available to attend. We need a powerful presence in the legislature. I hope I can count on you to stand up for our profession. Thank you on behalf of all PAs in Washington |
Colleagues,