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October 2001
Volume 65 |
Number 10
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STATE BEAT
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| ASA
on the Road |
S. Diane Turpin, J.D., Assistant Director
Office of Governmental Affairs (State)
Don't Gamble With Patient
Safety!
August is the time
when state legislators attend national conventions, and ASA was
there to spread its message, “Don’t Gamble With Patient
Safety!” With most state legislatures out of session for
the year, these meetings also presented an excellent opportunity
to discuss plans for the coming legislative session.
The American Legislative Exchange Council
(ALEC) held its annual meeting in New York City in early August
with approximately 3,000 state legislators, staff and interested
association and corporate representatives attending. ASA hosted
an exhibit booth with a red and white poster that exclaimed, “Don’t
Gamble With Patient Safety!” We were ably assisted by members
of the New York State Society of Anesthesiologists, including
Kenneth J. Abrams, M.D., Peter B. Kane, M.D., and Mark J. Lema,
M.D., Ph.D. The anesthesiologists spoke with many state legislators
and stressed the importance of having physicians supervise nurse
anesthetists who administer anesthesia.
The National Conference of State Legislatures
(NCSL) held its annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas, with approximately
7,000 attendees. This year, ASA, along with 10 additional national
physician groups, joined together in a 40-by-50-foot booth. Participating
physician groups included the American Academy of Family Physicians,
American Academy of Ophthalmology, American Association of Orthopaedic
Surgeons, American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of
Cardiology, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists,
American Medical Association, American Osteopathic Association,
American Society of Plastic Surgeons and American Academy of Neurology.
The Texas Medical Association generously assisted with refreshments
for visitors to the booth.
This joint booth project evolved from a
working group established more than a year ago on nonphysician
scope-of-practice issues. The booth was called “Physicians
Advocating for Patients.” Each physician group provided materials
regarding the education and training of physicians and the issues
of importance to the specialty. Many groups had local physicians
volunteer to staff the booth. ASA was well-represented with former
ASA President Betty P. Stephenson, M.D.; James P. McMichael, M.D.,
President, Texas Society of Anesthesiologists (TSA); Christopher
A. Bracken, M.D.; Scott E. Kercheville, M.D.; Mary Ann Gurkowski,
M.D.; and Linda S. Adkins, TSA’s legislative consultant.
Maintaining the theme from the ALEC meeting, our message focused
on the necessity of physician supervision of nurse anesthetists.
At both the ALEC and NCSL meetings, the overwhelming majority
of the people we spoke with agreed that nurse anesthetists should
not be permitted to practice independently.
The physician groups participating in the
booth all face scope-of-practice issues at the state level. In
our work over the last year, we have come to better understand
our respective issues and to realize more fully the need to stay
united on these issues. Our joining together in the exhibit booth
helped to differentiate physicians from the variety of nonphysician
practitioners that exhibit at NCSL. We look forward to planning
for the NCSL annual meeting in Denver, Colorado, in 2002 and continuing
to work together on issues of importance to all of medicine.
Our thanks to the members of the component
societies who generously volunteer their time to make these events
so successful.
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