ANESTHESIOLOGIST ASSISTANTS S.B. 439:
COMMITTEE SUMMARY
Senate Bill 439 (as introduced 6-19-13)
Sponsor: Senator Tonya Schuitmaker
CONTENT
The bill would amend Article 15 (Occupations) of the Public Health Code to do the following:
-- Prohibit a person from practicing as an anesthesiologist assistant unless he or she were licensed or otherwise authorized.
-- Allow the Board of Medicine to issue an educational limited license to practice as an anesthesiologist assistant under certain circumstances.
-- Establish fees for licensure as an anesthesiologist assistant.
-- Require the Board, in consultation with the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs to promulgate rules specifying standards and qualifications for licensure as an anesthesiologist assistant.
-- Require the Board to prescribe continuing education requirements for anesthesiologist assistants.
-- Require the Board to register licensees on an anesthesiologist assistants' roster.
Practice as Anesthesiologist Assistant
After the effective date of the rules promulgated by the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) under the bill, an individual could not practice as an anesthesiologist assistant unless he or she were licensed or otherwise authorized under Article 15 as an anesthesiologist assistant.
The Board of Medicine could issue an educational limited license to an individual who provided satisfactory evidence that he or she met all requirements for licensure except the certifying examination. An educational limited license would be valid until the expiration of a period determined by the Board, which could not exceed one year, or until the results of the required certifying examination were made available, whichever was earlier.
Part 170 (Medicine) of the Code lists words, titles, or letters that are restricted in use only to those who are authorized under Part 170 to use them. The bill would include "anesthesiologist assistant" and "A.A." in that list.
Fees
The bill would establish the fees shown in Table 1 for an individual licensed or seeking licensure to engage in practice as an anesthesiologist assistant under Part 170.
Table 1
|
Fee Type |
Amount |
|
Application Processing Fee |
$20 |
|
License Fee, Per Year |
$50 |
|
Educational Limited License |
$25 |
Standards & Qualifications for Licensure
The Board of Medicine, in consultation with LARA, would have to promulgate rules that specified the standards and qualifications for licensure as an anesthesiologist assistant. The Board would have to require at least all of the following in the rules:
-- Completion of a graduate level training program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs, or its successor agency, and approved by LARA.
-- Successful completion of a certifying examination for anesthesiologist assistants administered by the National Commission for Certification of Anesthesiologist Assistants, or its successor agency, and approved by LARA.
-- Successful completion of a course in advanced cardiac life-support techniques offered or approved by the American Heart Association, the American Red Cross, or a similar organization, and approved by LARA.
In addition, the Board would have to do all of the following, in consultation with LARA:
-- Establish and, where appropriate, limit the duties and activities related to the practice of anesthesiology that anesthesiology assistants could perform.
-- Require immediate availability of the supervising anesthesiologist at all times.
-- Require the supervising anesthesiologist to ensure that an anesthesiologist assistant properly documented all activities, functions, services, and treatment measures that he or she performed.
-- Require the anesthesiologist assistant to inform the supervising anesthesiologist of serious adverse events.
-- Establish an appropriate ratio of supervising anesthesiologists to anesthesiologist assistants, except in emergency cases.
(Immediate availability would mean that a medically directing anesthesiologist was in the physical proximity of an anesthesiologist assistant allowing the anesthesiologist to return and reestablish direct contact with the patient to meet his or her medical needs and address any of the patient's urgent or emergent clinical problems.)
Continuing Education Requirements
Subject to Section 16204 of the Code, the Board of Medicine by rule would have to prescribe continuing education requirements as a condition for the renewal of an anesthesiologist assistant license. Every two years, each anesthesiologist assistant in Michigan would have to give the Board proof of completion of Board-required continuing education.
(Section 16204 mandates that the appropriate medical licensing board require an applicant for licensure renewal to complete an appropriate number of hours of courses in pain and symptom management.)
Anesthesiologist Assistants' Roster
After issuing a license to an anesthesiologist assistant, the Board of Medicine would have to register him or her on an anesthesiologist assistants' roster. The Board would have to
include the anesthesiologist assistant's name and address and other Board-required information on the roster.
MCL 333.17001 et al. Legislative Analyst: Patrick Affholter
FISCAL IMPACT
The bill would have an indeterminate fiscal impact on the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs and no fiscal impact on local units of government. The bill would create a license structure and fees for anesthesiologist assistants. This would create some new costs associated with licensing individuals practicing as anesthesiologist assistants as well as new revenue from the fees. It is unknown how many licenses would be issued, and since that number would largely determine whether the fees in the bill would be sufficient to support the licensure program, the fiscal impact is indeterminate.
This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.