Urgent Advocacy Alert: California Members

August 22, 2020 Update

AB890 will be moving forward with a full Senate vote on Monday, August 24, 2020. We need to keep up the pressure for committee members to vote NO on AB890.

August 20, 2020 Update

AB890 was put on the Appropriations Committee Suspense Calendar on 8/19/20 and will be heard TODAY, August 20th. Committee protocol does not allow for testimony when bills placed on the Suspense Calendar are being reviewed. However, we need to keep up the pressure for committee members to vote NO on AB890 and hold this bill on the Suspense Calendar. Please, act now. Contact these senators and use your social media presence to amplify the California Medical Association’s messages. 

Sen. Atkins

Sen. Portantino

Sen. Bates

Sen. Bradford

Sen. Jones

Sen. Weickowski

Dear AAEM Members,

Bill AB 890 is currently being considered in committee in the California Senate.  If it becomes law, it will allow NPs to practice completely independently of physicians in any location, in any specialty, governed only by the Board of Nursing. AAEM welcomes NPs and PAs working alongside us in the emergency department but believes that all emergency care should be led by a board certified/eligible emergency medicine physician. The AAEM position statement is found here for your review.

Emergency medicine is particularly vulnerable to scope of practice infringement as more and more hospitals look to hire non-physician practitioners to replace physicians. Accordingly, WE NEED YOU to email the Senators on this committee to voice your opposition to this bill.  You must do this BY TODAY, August 20th.

If you would like to use this automated form created by the California Medical Association, please fill out your contact information, personalize your submission, and click the red SEND EMAIL box. That’s it! Anecdotes of mismanagement are always useful to include when personalizing these submissions.

If you would like to create your own message, here are some talking points you may use:

  1. AB 890 is overly broad and would allow NPs to practice independently in any specialty they choose.  They can also switch specialties without any further training.  The public is unaware of the lack of standardized, accredited training programs for NPs and thus patients are put at risk.
  2. This bill will allow NPs to order and interpret radiographic imaging such as xrays, ultrasounds and mammograms. Allowing NPs who have not been trained in image interpretation provides substandard care to patients. 
  3. Full practice authority for NPs does not increase access to healthcare in rural areas.  NPs do not go to rural areas any more than physicians. In fact, in states with full practice authority (FPA), access to physician care is declining as NPs displace physicians. This displacement occurs in suburban and urban centers. Rural environments have even less resources available to patients and these patients deserve physician-led care.
  4. The physician shortage is best addressed by training more physicians. Patients prefer to have physicians leading their care.  Substituting physicians with lesser educated and minimally trained practitioners is unsafe. We do not allow medical students with their 6,000 hours of training to graduate and treat patients unsupervised. We should not allow Nurse Practitioners, with 600 hours of training, to do the same.

 

Please, act now. Your jobs and your patients depend on it.

Sincerely,
Lisa A. Moreno, MD MS MSCR FAAEM FIFEM
President, AAEM

CAL/AAEM Board of Directors

AAEM EM Workforce Committee

Additional EM Workforce Advocacy Resources