surgpa

no.....but I can own the clinic holding company that hires me AND a doc....I live in Texas.

Not going to happen.....ever.

They will still have to be a graduate of an approved PA program. THat is the requirement in EVERY State.

Only if they paid the worthless administrators $5 per hour. Not going to happen. Mike

OK, how does that make any sense? RNFAs are not reimbursed by Medicare or Medicaid, plus they aren't making rounds and writing orders. If they are doing this on their own (I know some who have TRIED) they might be in hot soup with the BNE. I'm a PA and an RN. Mike

My question is this. Does the hospital factor your salaries into the general overhead, or do they bill for your services individually? There is a danger to all of you if you are being paid under a global charge for the general overhead billed to Medicare and then billing out individual procedures as you describe. I have seen this before because few administrators realize they are double-billing Medicare or another insurance, when the audits come, who do you think pays for it?

My question is this: do YOU get FREE healthcare, in your native tongue when you LEGALLY visit their (fill in the nationality of choice) country? Of course not. Then why are we bound to do the same for ILLEGAL invaders? I'm fine if they show up for treatment, but you have to pay your bill, not leave it to the American taxpayer (aka: sucker) to foot YOUR bill. Just my 2 cents. Mike

Quoting a UN document is meaningless. Negative points for using this "New World Order" pap for your argument. Mike

Check out the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing in Baltimore. They have a special program for prior Peace Corps types. Good luck! Mike:gandalf:

I did it. I was thinking about CRNA. Still am. Besides, I think it makes a better provider. Mike

Explain to me what "preop and postop care" things you can do. Just an educational question. Mike PA/RN

There are a number of PA schools where the classes are taken with the med students. Why would that not "count"? Most people who talk about the bridge program are suggesting compressing the time from 4 year to about 3. During a typical 4 yr program there is plenty of slack time, or so I am told. So, get rid of the long vacations and it comes down to about 3 years. Or so I am told..... Mike

I don't know what you are smoking, but I'd put that one away... I've been a PA and RN for quite some time and have been ASSISTING in CVS since 1987. I would not say I could not do the vast majority of the operation from a technical standpoint, but I lack the depth of experience and TRAINING to handle the infinite number of complications that may arise. Thinking you can do it is a whole lot different than actually having done it or having been trained to do it. Go to med school and a surgical residency if you want to be a doc. Thats what those schools are for. Mike PA/RN

Most PAs just say "PA". Just as a slight, gentle correction, it is not "Physicians" Assistant. Drop the "s" off the title. Mike PA, CCP, RN

Realizing this is JUST TV, I thought the character started off a bit strong. In the real world, when you see ANY non-MD act like that, they usually get escorted out/transferred/disappeared in about 5 minutes. I had a good laugh watching her berate all the doc's, but again that is fantasy TV. Mike

As I read this bill, there are TWO distinct portions. One, it allows AAs to work as such in NC. Two, it MANDATES CRNAs to work under the "supervision" of MDAs. This is the true crux of the argument and the friction between the two (three?) groups. If it were in fact two different proposed laws it would have been better received for the first and more honest on its face for the second. Why in the world would you combine the practice law of allowing AAs to work while limiting CRNAs in the same law? Makes no sense to me except for the obvious agendas mentioned elsewhere. Mike

I was working as a PA in the ER at Womack Army Hospital a number of years ago. I was driving into work early one morning following an ambulance (no lights or sirens) when it pulled up to the front door. Out jumped a young soldier with his wife from the front seat of the ambulance! I went in and waited while the triage RN talked to him. It seems that the ER doc he saw over the weekend told him to "come back if he wasn't feeling better". Thats not hard to believe, because most providers say something similar. I pulled him back to my area and asked him why he thought he needed an ambulance to carry him back for an ER visit. He told me (really, no BS) that his car was in the shop and he didn't want to pay for a taxi. He knew "they" would pay for the ambulance and he could go about his business. For those of you who have spent time in the military, you know that troops go to "sick call" usually Mon-Fri, not to the ER. Unfortunately for this guy, he got to pay $200 for the ambulance ride because I walked him over to the collections folks and told them he had abused the need for an ambulance. Needless to say, he was pissed, but I list that as a score for "our side". BTW, he was sent back to work about 5 minutes after being seen. Mike

The Army has not trained a PA to become a warrant officer since 1992. They have ALL become commissioned officers just like the other services that have PAs.

Hi, Laughing Gas Thanks for your thoughtful reply. Having known many CRNAs and MDAs over the years, I understand what you are saying. I just wanted to see what your take on it was. I have not as of yet worked with any AAs, so I'll reserve my comments until I do. Truth be told, I wanted to become a CRNA many years ago, but somehow ended up a surgical PA. Go figure. My comment on my doctoral degree was that it did not necessarily make me a better clinician, but enables me to delve into other aspects of medicine. As to the money issues, it is a sad commentary that we have become the "Wal-Mart" model of providing healthcare....the cheaper, the better. That does not jive with reality since we are not producing widgets here. In any event, continued good luck to you all. Thank you for the enlightenment regarding the current status of CRNAs and AAs. Mike

hello, laughing gas a few things here that interest me. i am neither an aa or crna, so i do not have an axe to grind. i am interested in what you mean by nurse anesthesia versus that pesky old medical anesthesia. what exactly differeniates the two? is it a more caring attitude while you administer the anesthesia? please be concise and not euphoric in your description. just how does this research and theory component of your crna program make you a better anesthetist compared to an aa? again, please be specific. does my having a doctoral degree make me better as a pa? only if i'm working on policy analysis or research related questions, otherwise, i write scrips for amoxicillin just like everybody else. i am interested by your thoughts on aas making significantly less than crnas. is this about who makes more or who can administer anesthesia proficiently? the only objection i have here is that money always seems to be a big part of the argument. i have looked at aa and crna curriculum and they seem fairly much the same. you both earn masters degrees. i do agree with you that the aas are not expected to have any significant clinical experience, which in my humble opinion, is the great equalizer. is there common ground between aas and crnas? i hope so. both are here and i don't see anyone throwing in the towel. good luck to you all. mike

"I am licensed as a PA in the state of Georgia. I hold the same physical license as a surgical PA, cardiac PA and so forth. The difference is that I am delineated as a subclass of PA with a job description on file with the state licensing board. In that description are most of the duties commonly performed by anesthetists. Anything not covered in that description can be delegated to me by my sponsoring physician. In my practice, I do not perform regional blocks, but neither do our CRNAs. I do, however, know many AA's that routinely perform spinals and epidurals everyday. I am primarily a cardiac anesthetist. I place all of my own lines including PA catheters. I can perform femoral cannulation and IJ cannulation but am not permitted to perform a subclavian stick (neither are the CRNAs). Again we are totally interchangable." Question: Are you suggesting you are the same as a "surgical PA, cardiac PA" or even the primary care PA, who is a different animal altogether? Or, are you suggesting you are a "specialty PA" who is not certified under the NCCPA? I know that both coexist, but very few are both the NCCPA critter and an AA. Mike:coollook: