On Tuesday, Gov. Pat McCrory signed into law HB 724, “Amend Composition of NC Medical Board” thus adding a designated seat for a physician assistant (PA) on the Board. The previous version of the law held seats for either a PA or a nurse practitioner; now both professions have designated seats.
The North Carolina Medical Society (NCMS) worked closely with the N.C. Academy of Physician Assistants (NCAPA) to guide the legislation through the General Assembly.
The NCAPA’s President Marc Katz, a Catawba County PA, praised the bill, adding: “As the rising demand for health care services puts additional strain on providers, particularly in rural areas, PAs are an increasingly important part of North Carolina’s team-based healthcare system. PAs have the training, skills and expertise to provide personal, quality medical care to our patients. We are grateful that our state’s leaders have taken this much-needed step to ensure that PAs have a continuous voice on the N.C. Medical Board.”
The NCMS welcomes PAs as an important part of our membership. They are the fastest growing licensee group regulated by the Medical Board, having increased almost 25 percent since 2010. More than 5,000 PAs are now licensed to practice medicine in North Carolina.
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The PA and physician relationship is supervisory, but has increasingly become a collaborative relationship in both clinical settings and professional settings. The NCAPA and NCMS relationship is a “best practice” example as to how PAs and physicians can work together in the best interests of the patient. Many other states would do well to look to North Carolina as a role model. My personal thanks to everyone in the NCMS leadership for their assistance and support of this bill. As my Marine Corps would say, “Semper Fidelis (Always Faithful).
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My sincere thanks to each of the NCMS who contributed to the support and successful passage of HB 574 which helps to maintain the presence of physician assistant representation on the NC Medical Board.
We have come a long way since the years when the NCMS allowed NCAPA to exhibit at your annual convention to allow PAs to discuss with North Carolina physicians about the value of the PA profession.
We look forward to continued cooperation with the NCMS.
Wayne Von Seggen, PA-C
Past President NCAPA and NCMB