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Welcome
to the Illinois Academy of Physician Assistants! To join
the IAPA over the website, click the IAPA Membership Application on the
left sidebar. Or to print out a hard copy, click here.
QUICK
NEWS
 SAVE this
DAY…..
Illinois
Academy ’s
FALL
CME Conference
October
3 – 5, 2008
Downers
Grove
Call
for topics…
- Do
you have a presentation you would like to give?
- Have
you heard a great lecture lately?
-
Is
there a topic you would like to hear about?
Contact
the
CME
committee
Sharon_Blattner@hotmail.com
EXHBITOR Display Information
for October 3 & 4 at Fall CME
EXHBITOR Letter
IAPA Loses One of Its Own
Steve Bergstrom
1951
– 2008
USC PA-C
Class of 1998
On July 5th IAPA lost one of its own–Steven Jay
Bergstrom PA-C. He was a great PA, a devoted
husband, father and son, and a good friend. Steve
was well-liked by everyone as he was extremely kind, genuine, and
giving. He graduated from the University of Southern California
PA Program in 1998 and served briefly on
the CAPA board. Not long after graduation, Steve
and his family moved back to Illinois where both his and his
wife’s families live. Steve volunteered to
be the Northern Illinois Regional Director for the IAPA in 2005.
He was currently employed as a PA with Mercy Health Systems in Woodstock, Illinois in a Plastic surgery group. Steve
was a member to
CAPA, IAPA,
and AAPA.
Steve had many interests including music, tinkering with
electronics and cars, studying his bible and target practicing. His
love for life left him with no limit to his interests. His
framed licenses and other certificates of varying fields covered all
four walls of one room in their home. His
mechanical aptitude knew no bounds whether it was cars, computers or
metacarpals; Steve could take them apart and put them back together. Steve
always put his family first. He is survived by his
wife Patti, daughters Rebecca and Tammy, his mother Margaret, his 2
older brothers, his sister and many nieces and nephews.
IAPA
Goals for 2008
"The IAPA board of directors met in
January to discuss the goals and activities of the organization.
Our top priority is to provide information to members and non-members
regarding the critical state of laws outlining privileges of the PA
profession in Illinois. Without better funding and greater
support from the PAs practicing in Illinois, the laws for PAs will only
stay the same. PAs are falling behind the APNs in expanding
practice privileges. Funds to hire a lobbyist exceed $48,000 a
year. IAPA needs every practicing PA in Illinois to join our
organization in order to hire a full-time lobbyist. Dues are
$150 annually, or .43 cents a day, to be member of the IAPA. Join
now if you are not a member. If you were a member, please pay
your dues on-line right now. If you are a member, we thank you
for your conitnued support. We need your support in order
to protect and expand our PA profession!" Kathy Dodd, PA-C,
President 2008.
Presented below are the 2008 goals of the IAPA.
a.
Membership Committee - James
Kell, chair,
Dave Senf, Joel Willis, Elana Min, and the Regional Directors
1. Recruit
membership to 600 Fellow Members
2. Host
a Regional Directors Workshop
3. For prospective
membership, send a
newsletter, postcards, develop a webpage for prospects and send
alumni
letters to the programs to send to their alumni.
b.
Public Education Committee - Sharon Blattner, Kris Healy, Joel Willis
1. Website - formatting
a newsletter and
emails with more graphics and style.
2. Interactive
interactive database fields
linked to the computer database to link current information.
3. Articles on the
website on Hire to Hire
a PA and more.
4. Visit the PA
Programs.
5. Brochure to be
finalized and
printed.
6. Display to be
finalized and printed
finding Illinois
photos.
7. SIPAC presented a
$3,000 donation to
further develop the IAPA website for 2008.
Many thanks to SIPAC for
their generous contributions.
c.
Legislative Committee - Ann Browning,
chair, Sharon Blattner, Kathy Dodd, Sherie Turner, Karen Chamness and
Kris
Healy
1. Investigate,
interview, hire a
lobbyist.
2. Write a letter to
AAPA asking for a
$25,000 grant to assist with the search for a lobbyist.
3. Introduce language
for Schedule II
privileges.
4. Introduce language
for the Emergency
Disaster privileges.
5. Introduce language
to change the
definition of the PA Advisory Committee in the PA Practice Act.
6. Continue ground work
on privileges to
a. Become shareholders
in a Medical
Practice by amending the Medical Corporations Act.
b. Gain privileges
performing x-rays by
amending the Nuclear Safety Act.
c. Expanding the
supervisory ratio from
1:2 to at least 1:4 or removing it completely.
d.
PAC Committee will continue to make
contributions during this election year.
Ann Browning, chair, Kathy Dodd,
Randall Wilcoxen.
LEGISLATIVE NEWS
January 10, 2008
The IAPA
would like to hire a lobbying firm to assist our efforts in expanding
practice privileges for PAs.
There are three items on the agenda for 2008:
1) Adding Emergency Disaster language in the PA Practice Act of
1987 giving PAs the authority to practice without a supervising
physician in an emergency disaster situation.
2) Amending the language in the PA Practice Act of 1987 granting
authority to the PA Advisory Committee.
3) Prescriptive privileges for Schedule II
Controlled Substances.
In order to afford a lobbying firm, IAPA needs to recruit 160 more
Fellow Members. Please be sure you pay your dues, and please be
sure that all PAs you know are members of the IAPA. We need your
financial help now.
December 31, 2007
The Governor signed
HB 1284 on December 31, 2007 at around 3:15 pm.
Public Act . . . . . . . . . 95-0703
Thank you for all your calls to the
Governor's Office.
MEDICARE
REIMBURSEMENT ISSUES
Preview
the AAPA presentation of Medicare Reimbursement at: http://www.aapa.org/sparks/fast/menu.html
1)
Does the
supervising physician need to be on site in order for the hospital to
bill under the physician's name?
In hospitals, billing under the physician when both the PA and
physician deliver care to the same patient on the same day does not
require that the physician be on site when the PA delivers his/her
portion of care. Medicare does require that the physician
personally perform some portion of the evaluation and management
service (face-to-face with the patient) during that calendar day.
This is known as a shared visit. However, if the physician never
treats the patient on that calendar day then the PA’s services can only
be reimbursed at 85%. Procedures and consultations can’t be
billed as a shared visit. That same policy does not really work
in the office setting.
2) Does the supervising
physician need to sign each chart for Medicare patients?
Medicare generally has no requirement that the physician ever co-sign a
PA’s chart. State law or the policies of hospitals may have that
requirement, but not Medicare. Medicare’s Condition of
Participation do require that a physician co-sign a PA’s chart when the
PA has performed a hospital admission H&P or a pre-surgical H&P.
3) What's the new rule
for PAs to see a patient with a new condition?
PAs
can always see and treat new patients in the office or hospital as long
as the claim is submitted under the PA’s name and Medicare provider
number (paid at 85%). If the office is trying to bill Medicare under
the physician’s name at 100% (“incident to”) then PA’s can’t treat new
patients.
4) Shouldn't a
PA have his own UPIN number and bill under their own UPIN number?
Every
PA should have a Medicare PIN. The UPIN is issued after the PIN
and is not used for day-to –day billing. The PIN is used for
billing. A PA in a pediactric practice could argue that there is
no need to get a PIN. They should understand that not every
patient covered by Medicare is elderly. Younger patients with
kidney disease and other conditions can also be covered by Medicare. To apply,
contact your area Medicare Services Office and ask for form CMS855.
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REGIONS
The
IAPA has six regions that represent PAs in different parts of the
state. Each region has their own director who arranges CME and other
meetings for their membership. These meetings are great opportunities
for PAs to network with other practicing PAs in the state and another
opportunity to obtain CME credit. Make sure you check out our regional
pages by clicking here or on the
regions button on the left side of the page!
CME
The
meeting will be held at Midwestern University in Downers Grove, IL, in
2006. Stay tuned for details.. Information on hotels in the area
will be arriving via mail soon. You can register for the Fall CME by
contacting Sharon Blattner, PA-C. Her contact information is available here. In addition, there are great CME
opportunities through your IAPA regional chapter. Click here to learn more.
MEMBERSHIP
RENEWAL
It's
that time of year when some members have lost their renewal forms. If
you haven't had a chance to renew your membership or you lost your
renewal form click here to print out a
form and send it to the office. Stay tuned to the website to complete
this entire transaction online.
MEMBERSHIP
Click
here if you are interested in
becoming a member or learning more about the benefits of membership!
PROSPECTIVE
PA STUDENTS
If
you are a prospective PA student you will be interested to know that we
now have a pre-PA membership category. Membership dues are $10.00 and
you will make a big impression on your PA interviews when they find out
your are already involved in the Illinois Academy of Physician
Assistants. Click here to print out a
form for your membership and get involved in your profession!
WEBSITE
There
are some great changes coming our way!
- Online
membership forms and credit card payment options
- Online
registration and payment for CME events
- Email
notification on important news items for members
- Frequently
asked questions section for members
These
changes and more will be coming to your website soon. Take a look
around to learn more.
LEGISLATIVE
SUPERVISION
RATIO
We
were unable to get the legislature to consider this important addition
to the PA Practice Act, but our legislative team is preparing for next
year and they will need your help to get the members of the legislature
to understand how important this issue it to provide access to many
underserved areas of Illinois!.
DISASTER
TEAMS
In
addition, we will be working on an Emergency Supervision Bill which
will allow PAs to serve on emergency response teams. The PAs would be
able to lend their services in the event of a state or national
emergency by helping out with disaster teams. This was also held up in
the legislature, but we hope to get our state representatives to
understand how vital this is to serving our state and local
communities. Currently, members of emergency response teams like the
Illinois Medical Emergency Response Team (IMERT) cannot participate in
actual disasters. These organizations need PAs to help, yet the current
practice act won't allow our participation. We need the legislature to
act now to prepare for the future.
SUNSET
PROVISION
The
legislature enacts a sunset provision in all the professions in
Illinois. This allows them to review the profession to ensure their
existence is necessary. The PA Practice act (PAPA) will be coming due
for renewal in 2007, which means the academy will be working diligently
to ensure that the renewal goes smoothly. For more information on our
legislative efforts click here.
WHAT
CAN I DO?
Your
legislators need to be aware of the importance of passing these bills.
These bills allow PAs to provide much needed healthcare to those who
are in need of access to care. The access is prevalent in medically
underserved areas and potentially a problem during a state or national
disaster or emergency. Please write a letter to your state legislator
to inform them about PAs roles in healthcare. Click
here to find your local legislator.
Meet the IAPA Board! |
 Change
of Address?
If you need to update your member information, you can do so in the
members only area.
If you need your username and password please click here. Thank you!
Site
updated 05-22-2006
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