Raleigh, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) – More than 200 physician assistants will converge on the state capitol to rally for more freedom to practice medicine across state lines.
The medical professionals are looking to garner support for Senate Bill 190, a measure that would allow North Carolina to join the PA Compact.
The compact is essentially an agreement between states to allow PAs to practice in other compact member states without the provider needing to hold multiple, individual state licenses.
North Carolina currently recognizes similar agreements for nurses, social workers, and other therapy providers.
North Carolina Academy of Physician Assistants is a proponent of the bill. Member Truett Smith, a PA based in Concord, N.C., said it will not change the scope of what PAs are permitted to do, just where they work.
Advocates say there is a shortage of healthcare professionals, particularly in rural settings.
Smith said joining a compact would reduce administrative, financial, and travel burdens for both providers and patients in cities like Charlotte, N.C.
“Take for instance, if I were practicing in South Charlotte, many of my patients may be in South Carolina. And so, ideally, you want to have a South Carolina license as well as a North Carolina license, or if I just practice right across the border in but lived in Charlotte,” he said. “The compact would help make it easy for you to get your license in multiple states at the same time, and by doing that you wouldn’t have to complete a separate application process in each state.”
Virginia and Tennessee are two of the 15 states currently part of the compact. Legislators in 13 other states are considering joining.
Smith said the popularity of the “mutual recognition” of licenses rose exponentially during the pandemic.
“I saw a lot of travel nurses in that we had needs where I work and needs across the country,” he said. “In the future, say there are other disasters, that would make it much quicker to be able to be more mobile to these other areas as well.”
Smith said the biggest hurdle he sees for the legislation is not outright opposition but rather a lack of awareness of the option for the legislature to approve the state’s entry into the compact.
“There are really no negatives to the legislation, as far as I’m aware of. I think the complexities of working out, once you create one application, having that application to meet all the criteria of all the states, I think that’s where the complexities are. But I think the legislation itself does not pose those complexities,” he said.
The bill is sponsored by State Senators Mark Hollo (R-Caldwell), Ralph Hise (R-Mitchell) and Amy Galey (R-Alamance).
