(Submitted by Sr. HOD Rep Sarah Bigelow, PA-C)

Once again, Casey and I enjoyed our time at the AAPA House of Delegates.  The 2016 IMPACT conference was hosted by the beautiful city of San Antonio, Texas and they lived up to their reputation by doing everything big!  A warm welcoming ceremony featured  Navy SEAL to PA to movie consultant and "American Sniper" actor, Kevin "Dauber" Lacz, PA-C, who knows what it means to go for – and get – what you want in life. As one of two keynote speakers he shared his experiences about why it is important to take, mitigate and overcome risks to achieve your goals as a leader and as a team member.  The second speaker, Terry Stone, the Managing Director of Oliver Wyman's Health & Life Sciences practice group, focused her unique insights on translating the healthcare trends of tomorrow into today's transformational healthcare strategies. Terry has extensive experience in the healthcare industry and gave us a view of what is on the horizon and the important role PAs have in healthcare today and in shaping its future.

After three days of discussion and testimony on various recommendations the house came together to vote on the recommendations presented by the reference committees.  Although most resolutions presented were accepted for the consent agenda, covering topics from PA license portability to the opioid abuse crisis to medical marijuana laws, a few were extracted for further debate.  Two of the extracted resolutions passed will have particular importance on the future of the profession – one relates to the NCCPAs proposed changes to the recertification process of PAs and second revised the AAPA guidelines for state regulation of PAs.  Many states echoed concerns expressed to the NCCPA proposal to the recertification process.  Please refer to resolution B-01.  Delegates approved the guideline revision that encouraged states to allow “PA scope of practice to be determined by the PAs education and experience, rather than physician delegation; repeal the concept that physicians should be responsible for PA-provided care; replace references to physician “supervision” with “collaboration”; and authorize state constituent organizations to pursue even more progressive provisions that would increase PA practice authority, should that opportunity arise.  Please refer resolution C-02 and policy HP 3500.3.4

As we sadly bid farewell to our Speaker of the House, Gail Curtis, who was honored with a special resolution and thank you, we elected new House officers and members to the Nominating Work Groups.  New elected members can be viewed on the AAPA website.

Click here for a summary of actions for 2016 HOD.  If you have not been following the discussions between the AAPA and NCCPA we encourage you to take a few moments and review the material.  Information can be found on both the AAPA and NCCPA websites. 

Again, thank you for the opportunity to serve as your HOD representatives.  We hope you are enjoying the amazing Alaskan summer and look forward to seeing you this October in Fairbanks at the All Alaska Medical Conference.

Thank you,

Sarah Bigelow, PA-C and Casey Schanz, PA-C