CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE
Spring 2021 Issue |
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MSV White Coats on Call Summary
By Sherin Moideen, MD
PSV President
The MSV Virtual Lobby Day event had about 80 participants on Zoom on January 21, 2021. Physicians from almost every medical specialty were represented, along with a few physician assistants.
Few legislators attended the event. However, I would like to specifically highlight Delegate Rodney T. Willett.
Delegate Willett is the Chair of the House Behavioral Health Subcommittee and during the event, mentioned that he is most interested in improving mental healthcare. He mentioned that he has been alerted of the rise in demand for mental health treatment since the start of the pandemic. He is seeking to increase counselors in public schools. He is also looking at other measures to increase behavioral health providers in Virginia.
The event started with a legislative briefing by Arthur J. Vayer Jr., MD, President of MSV.
We discussed HB 1737, the proposed bill seeking to permanently reduce the full-time supervised practice years for nurse practitioners from five years to two years. At the start of the pandemic the governor issued an executive order temporarily suspending the requirements for physician supervision for nurse practitioners who have at least two years of practice experience to help with pandemic related demand. Once it expired, Delegate Adams introduced this bill to make this reduced measure permanent.
MSV implored the legislators not to rush for a short-term solution to solve access to care. They urged the legislators to wait for the Department of Health Professions (DHP) study assessing the quality of educational requirements and practice patterns of nurse practitioners in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The current presumption is that nurse practitioners are primarily going to practice in underserved areas of the Commonwealth. Current data from the American Medical Association do not support this presumption. The official report for the DHP study is due in fall of 2021 and many legislators agreed that we should wait for the report to pass the bill. The bill only passed with a sunset clause and it is set to expire in June of 2022.
We discussed the many alternative solutions to increasing access to care that do not seek to end physician-led care, such as loan repayment programs for practicing medicine in medically underserved areas, increasing residency slots, and increasing telemedicine reimbursement.
Also discussed, HB2044 introduced by Delegate Rasoul. The bill seeks to license and regulate Naturopathic doctors through the Board of Medicine. MSV expressed their concerns about the lack of scientific rigor to act as primary care physicians. This bill did not pass thanks to our advocacy.
Promoted by trial attorneys, SB 1107 seeks to eliminate Virginia's cap on medical malpractice. The legislators agreed that this is not a good legislation, and this failed to pass in the General assembly.
HB1817, introduced by Delegate Dawn Adams, seeks independent practice of Nurse Midwives. OBGYNs and Pediatricians are particularly concerned about the safety of two patients (mother and baby). This bill was referred to subcommittee.
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PSV 2021
FALL MEETING
September 24-25, 2021
Hilton
Norfolk The Main
Norfolk, VA
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