SPAGG had strong representation at the AAPA Leadership and Advocacy Summit from March 14-16, 2019 in Alexandria, VA.  SPAGG president, Nguyen Roche, attended and represented SPAGG.  A lot of people are interested in SPAGG and what we can accomplish!  It is a very exciting time for our organization!

Pictured: (right) AAPA President, Jonathan Sobel PA-C, and (left) SPAGG President, Nguyen Roche PA-C.

The American Academy of PAs (AAPA), the professional organization representing more than 131,000 PAs across the country, applauds U.S. Senators John Barrasso (R-WY) and Tom Carper (D-DE), for introducing S. 596, the Physician Assistant Direct Payment Act, authorizing PAs to receive direct payment under Medicare.

Currently, PAs are the only health professionals who are authorized to bill Medicare for their services but are not able to receive direct payment. Medicare permits all health professionals—physicians, advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs), physical therapists, psychologists, podiatrists, social workers, and others—to receive direct payment under their own name and National Provider Identifier number.

When PAs cannot be paid directly by Medicare, they are unable to reassign their payments in a manner similar to physicians and APRNs. The inability to be paid directly further hinders PAs from fully participating in the increasing number of innovative value-based payment arrangements and emerging models of healthcare delivery.

Click here to read the full article on the AAPA website.

AAPA is announced the selection of WPP, a world-renowned research, branding, and communications company, as the firm that will conduct the PA Title Change Investigation.  The firm’s unparalleled expertise in research and branding will be an invaluable asset to this independent, comprehensive investigation. Members of their team will be able to access as a resource an Advisory Council of PAs, which is composed of PAs with differing clinical specialties and from a range of geographic areas.  Click here to read the full article on the AAPA website.

The American Academy of PAs (AAPA) and the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) have partnered to raise public awareness of the PA profession by funding a nationwide advertising campaign.  NCCPA has contributed $500,000 to this joint effort, matching funding approved by AAPA’s Board of Directors.

Click here for a link to the AAPA website or here for a link to the NCCPA website for the full article.  This article was written by the AAPA and NCCPA.

AAPA’s president and chair of the Board of Directors, Jonathan E. Sober, DMSc, MBA, PA-C, DFAAPA, FAPACVS, has selected 12 PAs to serve on the Title Change Investigation (TCI) Advisory Council.  Members represent a broad range of clinical specialties from different geographic areas, and include individuals from PAEA, ARC-PA, and NCCPA.  Click here for the full article on the AAPA website.