Oct Pulse: Flu vaccine, CARES Act at the Capitol, Last call for Kohler conference

Clinical Pearls: How to make a stronger flu vaccine recommendation
As a PA, your strong recommendation is a critical factor that affects whether your patients get an influenza vaccine. Most adults believe vaccines are important, but they need a reminder from you to get vaccinated. Follow up with each patient during subsequent appointments to ensure the patient received an influenza vaccine. If the patient still is unvaccinated, repeat the recommendation to try to identify and address any questions or concerns.

The CDC suggests using the acronym SHARE:

S: SHARE the reasons why the influenza vaccine is right for the patient given his or her age, health status, lifestyle, occupation, or other risk factors.

H: HIGHLIGHT positive experiences with influenza vaccines (personal or in your practice), as appropriate, to reinforce the benefits and strengthen confidence in influenza vaccination.

A: ADDRESS patient questions and any concerns about the influenza vaccine, including side effects, safety, and vaccine effectiveness in plain and understandable language.

R: REMIND patients that influenza vaccines protect them and their loved ones from serious influenza illness and influenza-related complications.

E: EXPLAIN the potential costs of getting influenza, including serious health effects, time lost (such as missing work or family obligations), and financial costs.

Other CDC tools, including Spanish language resources, can be found online here and here.

Finally, don't forget about yourself this flu season! Healthcare workers also need to protect each other from unnecessary illness. Click here for a practical toolkit to mobilize immunization campaigns through your employer.

The CARES Act could change the game for PAs, but we need your voice

We have introduced the Collaboration and Rural Expansion of Services (CARES) Act to maintain and increase access to high quality medical care for Wisconsin patients by reducing workforce barriers for physician assistants (PAs). Currently, the bill has been assigned a number (LRB-0196) and we are recruiting co-sponsors now through Friday, October 4.

CARES Act information page
CARES Act toolkit: presentations, handouts, letters
CARES Act action center, WisCARES.org

The CARES Act provides necessary updates to Wisconsin’s PA laws to allow PAs to work to the full potential of their education, experience and training and to provide quality care to those who need it.

In drafting this historic bill, we have worked closely with other stakeholders, like the American Academy of PAs and the Wisconsin Hospital Association, both which support the legislation.

All eyes are on Wisconsin and we need every PA to join the movement. Please visit WisCARES.org and petition your representative to support us TODAY.

Wisconsin Legislative Updates

Harm to a Nurse – Committee Hearings Held in September
Under currently law, it is generally a Class A misdemeanor to cause bodily harm to another. For certain victims, such as emergency department health care providers, it is a Class H felony. SB 163/AB 175, authored by Sen. Kooyenga (R-Brookfield) and Rep. Magnafici (R-Dresser), would make it a Class H felony to cause bodily harm to a nurse or to an individual acting under the supervision of nurse.

(A Class A misdemeanor is punishable by a fine not to exceed $10,000 or imprisonment not to exceed 9 months, or both. A Class H felony is punishable by a fine not to exceed $10,000 or imprisonment not to exceed 6 years, or both.)

WAPA is working with WHA and the bill’s authors to expand the bill to include other healthcare professionals, including PAs. Of note, this issue was brought to WAPA's attention by a concerned PA in 2018 and the WAPA Professional Practice Committee has been working with the WAPA Legislative & Governmental Affairs Committee to see traction on the matter. We'll be following the issue closely.

MA Reimbursement for Telehealth - Circulating
Reps. Amy Loudenbeck (R-Clinton) & Deb Kolste (D-Janesville) and Sens. Dale Kooyenga (R-Brookfield) & Janet Bewley (D-Mason) have introduced legislation (SB 380/AB 410) that would require DHS to reimburse MA services provided via telehealth. Under the bill, telehealth services would be treated the same as in-person services. The bill would also prohibit the Department of Health Services (DHS) from requiring any additional certifications for providers treating via telehealth.

Message from the President
On behalf of WAPA Leadership, I want to wish every PA in the state Happy PA Week, which takes place October 6-12. This year our profession will be 52 years old and, wow, have we grown! In the US, there are 130,000+ PAs with just under 3000 practicing here in Wisconsin. As of 2018, there were 238 accredited PA programs in the US and the number continues to rise. According to 2018 US News and World Reports, PA was the #1 health profession. And according to the 2018 Bureau of Labor Statistics, PA is the fasting growing health profession.

As our profession, and medicine in general, has grown and developed, so must our practice act. And it will. I am pleased to announce the introduction of CARES legislation this past week! It is currently circulating for co-sponsorship in both the Assembly and the Senate.

This is a huge step forward but WE STILL NEED THE HELP OF EVERY PA IN THE STATE.

If you haven’t done so already, please go to WisCARES.org. It will take literally 4 minutes or less to read the information, plug in your voting address, and send an email to your legislators. It is critical that your legislators hear from you, your co-workers and your physician colleagues.

The WAPA Legislative and Governmental Affairs Committee has worked tirelessly to bring this bill to fruition. But the committee can only do so much. It has been said that "WAPA doesn’t do anything." I can assure you that nothing is further from the truth.

WAPA is working hard for you -- but we need your help. I’d like to ask you to please help in this small but meaningful way.

As always, I am available to answer any questions or address your concerns. Please email me at info@wapa.org.

Respectfully submitted,

Julie Doyle, PA-C
WAPA President

Shout out to the PAs who will be receiving 2019 WAPA Foundation scholarships
Here is a quick reminder to join us at the WAPA Foundation Award Dinner on October 24 at 6:00 pm for an evening of basket raffles, networking, great food and even better company. Tickets are only $100 and you can register online at wapa.org/fundraiser.

We are also hosting a Fun Run on October 23 at 5:30 pm. Route options include 4k and 6k choices and our 2k loop is located in beautiful Kohler, WI, right along the water. It will be a beautiful day and registration ($20) includes a free t-shirt. Again, find us at wapa.org/fundraiser.

Your support goes back into the PA community here in Wisconsin, through community grants and scholarship programs. Meet the three 2019 scholarship recipients in the images below -- quotes from their PA journeys are sure to brighten your day!

"Helping people through some of the potential scariest and most vulnerable times in their lives has been my lifelong dream. By choosing to focus on the health and humanity of each patient, rather than seeing them as a list of tasks to accomplish, I can take daily steps to realize this dream." -- Trina Coleman, Carroll University (Norine Friell Service Award)
"No matter what the population or activity was, we were able to create positive relationships with younger students and teach hundreds of teenagers about our passion for the PA
field of medicine to hopefully inspire the next generation of PAs!" -- Ashley Kenney, Marquette University (Paul S. Robinson Leadership Award)
"Compassion toward others is one of my strongest personal attributes, and I believe that it has been ingrained in who I am. I have been raised in a rural community where people rely on the generosity and kindness of their neighbors, which I hope to carry through for my very own patients." -- Jordyn Pieper, Carroll University Alumnus (Robert T. Cooney, MD, Award)

I work at a large company as an onsite provider. We are planning to keep Narcan and will formally assist if anyone enters respiratory arrest. Do you have any resources or training materials? Keep calling (414) 253-8188 or emailing WAPA with your practice questions!

As for free resources, more and more local police departments are starting to host Narcan training events. It would be worthwhile to give them a call -- they may have resources and even contacts for your inventory as well. Red Cross also offers in-person first aid certification and training, including training in Naloxone.

You can take first responder online courses if needed. We found these popular sites: GetNaloxoneNow.org and Overdose-Lifeline.org. Related note, if you are seeking continuing medical education credits for opioid training, we recommend the Wisconsin Medical Society's opioid education resources.

More practically speaking, if you are only looking for a refresher, here is a quick video which other PAs have watched during their Naloxone training. You may find helpful.

WAPA's Great Midwestern Medical Conference
October 23-25, 2019
American Club in Kohler, WI

It's easy to register for WAPA's Great Midwestern Medical Conference. Register online or call us at (414) 253-8188.

We'll be offering a hands-on suturing workshop, but pre-registration is required. Cost to register is $70. We are teaching basic and advanced tips on suture types and selection, proper loading of the needle, wound assessment, local
anesthesia and aftercare. Attendees can practice hand-tie knots, subcuticular running, mattress stitch, corner stitch, buried stitch and securing tubes. The first session will be on Thursday, October 24, at 8-10:00 am and a repeating session is at 1:30 pm.

Feel free to explore the preliminary program online and tell your colleagues about it. PAs are always welcome and we're inviting our RN partners, too!

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