A lettter from the Leadership at AAPA:

Dear AAPA Leaders, House of Delegates Members, and Constituent
Organization Leaders:

We, the AAPA Board of Directors, are writing to alert you to an
important and potentially very troublesome new program that could
substantially and adversely affect PAs' ability to provide care to
patients and the future of the profession itself.

Several months ago, AAPA leaders heard of a business venture based in
Salt Lake City that intends to develop a recertification system for
PAs. This system eventually would extend to all medical and surgical
areas in which PAs practice. The group spearheading the effort is
composed of a dermatologist, a business person, and a hotelier, the
latter of whom is financing the effort with as much as $20 million.

Academy leaders have requested details of the plan in writing from
this group, but to date we have not seen anything. Based on
conversations with a member of the group and what we have learned from
others, this is what we know:

* This is a for-profit business activity, not a not-for-profit
organization like the NCCPA and AAPA.

* The group behind this project wishes to replace the recertification
processes of the NCCPA with a specialty specific exam, which they will
develop. Their intent is to require PAs to pass this new exam in order
to become recertified. To do this they plan to work not only with state
regulatory authorities, but also with employers, malpractice programs,
health insurers, and physician organizations.

* The group in no way is connected with the NCCPA, the National Board
of Medical Examiners, or other formal PA organizations involved with
recertification.

* The group has not involved any current national PA leaders, groups,
or organizations in its efforts to develop this project.

AAPA leaders understand and respect the desire by some to recognize
specialty knowledge of PAs and the desirability of having programs to
help assure employers and the public that PAs are capable of practicing
in specific areas of medicine and surgery. However, we have several
grave concerns about this proposed project:

* If this new recertification program, as we understand it, is
launched, PAs quickly could lose the flexibility in job choice and
practice area that has been the hallmark of the profession since its
inception.

* By instituting what will quickly become entry barriers to practice
in specialty areas, this program will reduce access to care for
patients and make it more difficult for the rapidly changing health
care system to be flexible and nimble in utilizing PAs to meet patient
needs.

* By not involving recognized experts in test development for medical
and surgical practitioners, the quality of the test could be highly
suspect. Initial comments from the group referred to an initial per
person cost of about $800 to take the exam.

* By failing this test, PAs could put at risk their ability to
practice in a chosen specialty area and with the employer of their
choice.

AAPA President Rick Rohrs held a brief phone call with the physician
member of this group to express the concerns and opinions of AAPA
leaders on the proposal and to share the House of Delegates policies
concerning specialty certification (http://www.aapa.org/policy/against-
spec-cert.html). As stated earlier, this group has chosen not to share
any of its detailed plans directly with the Academy. The group has met
with leaders from NCCPA. In this meeting members of the group asserted
their clear intent to proceed ahead with their plans irrespective of
the wishes of the profession.

We will continue to monitor the situation and to press the PA
profession's position that the group's proposed course of action will
be highly detrimental to patients and PAs. AAPA also is communication
with the NCCPA on this issue. At some point in the near future we may
need to alert all PAs to this threat, should the project proceed any
further. Until that time, we will keep you informed of events as a
leader in the profession.

Please do not hesitate to ask any questions. Your AAPA Board of
Directors is prepared to help you in any way that we can. Please also
keep us informed of anything that you might hear about these efforts.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Rick Rohrs, PA-C, President
Paul Robinson, PA-C, Speaker of the House and Vice President
Julie Theriault, PA-C, Chair of the Board and Immediate Past President
Mary Ettari, MPH, PA-C, President-elect
Bruce Fichandler, PA, Treasurer
Robert Wooten, PA-C, Secretary
William Fenn, PhD, PA-C, First Vice Speaker
Alan Hull, PA-C, Second Vice Speaker
Patrick Killeen, MS, PA-C, Director at Large
Cindy Lord, MHS, PA-C, Director at Large
John Trimbath, MPAS, PA-C, Director at Large
John Western, PA-C, Director at Large
Lindsey Gillispie, PA-C, SAAAPA Immediate Past President