PANA Testifies Before House Committee on CAA Legislation

Department of State opposes licensing CAAs in Pa.

Members of the Pennsylvania Association of Nurse Anesthetists (PANA) testified today before the House Professional Licensure Committee to oppose legislation (H.B. 1956) that would license Certified Anesthesiologist Assistants (CAAs) for the first time in Pennsylvania.

Testifying were Jessica Poole DNAP, CRNA, director of State Government Affairs for PANA and lead Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) at BPW Medical Associates, P.C.; Matthew McCoy DNP, CRNA, past president of PANA and assistant director of the Crozer Chester Medical Center/Villanova University Nurse Anesthesia Program; and Christopher A. Heiss, MSN, CRNA, a PANA trustee and a CRNA practicing everywhere from large tertiary care facilities to rural critical access hospitals throughout Pennsylvania.

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PANA’s testifiers urged the committee to oppose the legislation. House Bill 1956 will not improve patient safety or enhance care. It will not reduce health-care costs, but instead, contribute to costlier care models. And it will not improve access to anesthesia services or address critical care shortages in underserved areas.

There is no meaningful research data concerning CAA anesthesia safety. Because CAAs must be directly supervised by an anesthesiologist, the provider redundancy of the CAA/anesthesiologist team is one of the costliest anesthesia delivery models. That also greatly limits their utilization in rural and underserved communities where anesthesiologists don’t practice.

GET ALL THE FACTS ABOUT H.B. 1956 HERE

The Pennsylvania Department of State also testified and opposed the licensing standards, noting that the agency “views creating another licensure class for professionals who are already nationally credentialed as repetitive and unnecessary.” The department also made clear that “CAAs would appear to fall within the definition of technician. While the practice acts and board regulations do not prohibit CAAs from practicing in the Commonwealth, the Department of State and the State Board of Medicine do not have the authority to regulate hospitals and other health care facilities. That authority falls under the Department of Health, in the Health Care Facilities Act.

A representative from the Hospital and Health System Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) also testified. Although HAP did not oppose the legislation, the organization did call for allowing CRNAs to practice to the fullest extent of their education and training to increase the number of qualified anesthesia providers in Pennsylvania.

Out-of-state CAAs also testified with Pennsylvania-based anesthesiologists.

VIEW ALL TESTIMONY

JESS POOLE

Poole Final.pdf

Download PDF • 152KB

MATT MCCOY

Matt McCoy Final.pdf

Download PDF • 164KB

CHRISTOPHER HEISS

Heiss - HPLC Testimony - Final.pdf

Download PDF • 73KB

PA DEPARTMENT OF STATE

4.25.22 - HPLC Testimony -DOS HB1956.pdf

Download PDF • 106KB

This is only the first step in a long legislative process. The hearing was informational only and the committee did not vote on the measure, which means under consideration. (Legislation must be approved by the committee before it goes to the full House for consideration.) No legislation has been introduced in the state Senate.

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House & Senate Committees Approve Legislation to Grant Professional Designation for CRNAs

Pennsylvania Association of Nurse Anesthetists

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Kurt Knaus; P: 717-724-2866; E: kurt@ceislermedia.com

House & Senate Committees Approve Legislation to Grant Professional Designation for Nurse Anesthetists in Pa.

Pennsylvania is one of two states that fails to recognize CRNAs in some form

HARRISBURG (June 8, 2021) --- Certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) moved one step closer to finally securing formal title recognition in Pennsylvania after the House Professional Licensure Committee today unanimously approved legislation (H.B. 931) to establish professional designation.

Pennsylvania is one of just two states that fails to formally recognize “certified registered nurse anesthetist” in some form. Because there is no definition for nurse anesthetists under the state’s Professional Nursing Law, CRNAs are recognized only as registered nurses, despite their advanced education and specialized training.

The House committee vote is a significant milestone in CRNAs’ years-long effort for formal recognition. Identical measures have passed the Senate in recent years, only to stall in the House committee and expire at the end of each legislative session. House Bill 931, sponsored by state Rep. Tarah Toohil (R-Luzerne), now goes before the full House for consideration.

Over in the Senate, the Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee also unanimously voted today to approve companion legislation (S.B. 416), sponsored by state Sen. John Gordner (R-Columbia). Previous measures there have been approved unanimously by the full chamber.

This marks the first time professional designation legislation for CRNAs has advanced beyond the committees in both chambers during the same legislative session.

“CRNAs in Pennsylvania are one step closer to finally getting the recognition they deserve for the crucial role they serve in keeping patients safe, ensuring access to high-quality care, and lowering health-care costs,” said Matt McCoy, DNP, CRNA, President of the Pennsylvania Association of Nurse Anesthetists (PANA), which represents more than 3,700 CRNAs and students in the commonwealth. “We’re grateful to the committees for their votes and look forward to working with the full House and Senate to move this measure toward enactment.”

CRNAs are the hands-on providers of anesthesia care, operating safely in every setting where anesthesia is administered, including: hospital operating and delivery rooms; ambulatory surgical centers; the offices of dentists, podiatrists, ophthalmologists, and plastic surgeons; pain management centers and more.

But the lack of that professional designation brings logistical and financial challenges for nurse anesthetists. Pennsylvania-based CRNAs often must obtain credentials from other states for certain activities. Pennsylvania nurse anesthetists who serve in the military must secure designation in another state to provide anesthesia in the armed services. They cannot assist on rapid response teams in states affected by natural disasters because they lack formal credentials. And, after receiving training in Pennsylvania, many nurse anesthetists relocate to states with full credentialing, contributing to the state’s “brain drain” of talented health-care professionals.

The pandemic revealed additional shortcomings. In response to COVID-19, many CRNAs wanted to contribute more to the facilities where they work but could not. Likewise, hospitals and other health-care institutions wanted to use CRNAs to their fullest capacity during a time of crisis but could not. Many of these facilities felt restricted by the way the state licenses CRNAs and would not allow nurse anesthetists to provide advanced, critical care services, even though it is within their education, training, clinical experience and scope of practice.

Two-thirds (67%) of Pennsylvania voters support professional designation for certified registered nurse anesthetists, including those who identify as Republican (59%), Democrat (75%) and Independent (62%), according to results of a statewide public opinion poll conducted last year by G. Terry Madonna Opinion Research.

For more information about certified registered nurse anesthetists in Pennsylvania, visit www.PANAforQualityCare.com or follow along on social media via Twitter at @PANACRNA or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PANACRNA.

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