At its November meeting, the Board of Directors approved two proposals that help the organization move toward more financially independent services.

First, the Board approved the indefinite suspension of NCCPA’s Surgery Exam after 2004 as the costs of developing and maintaining the exam far exceed the revenue generated.

The number of Surgery examinees has steadily declined, dropping almost 50 percent in the last two years alone. This drop in test-takers translates into a huge financial loss as NCCPA expects to recoup only one-eighth of the cost of offering the Surgery Exam in 2003 from the $125 exam fee.

"We carefully considered this decision because we understand the importance of being sensitive to the needs of PAs in different specialties," said Janet Lathrop, NCCPA president. "At the same time, the Board recognized that allocating fees paid by the majority of PAs to offset the cost of the Surgery Exam for so few was not in the best interest of the majority of NCCPA’s stakeholders."

In addition to the financial implications, a 2002 survey of PAs found that they did not feel "special recognition" in surgery made a difference in salary, in securing their current position or in promotions or raises received.

Consistent with moving each of NCCPA’s services toward financial independence, the Board also approved a $100 appeals fee.

NCCPA’s three-tiered appeals process allows a PA to request an exception to policy or file an exam grievance with NCCPA staff, appeal adverse staff decisions to the Review Panel and, in some cases, appeal again to the Executive Committee, depending on the nature of the appeal.

The new appeals fee applies only in cases where a PA wants to appeal the decision made by NCCPA staff to the Review Panel. The Review Panel hears 45-70 appeals annually and comprises five members of NCCPA’s Board of Directors, this year four PAs and one physician.

"The appeals fee is part of our ongoing effort to make each of our services stand alone," said Katherine J. Adamson, PA-C, MMS, MA, NCCPA Review Panel chair. "While the fee won’t cover the entire cost, we will at least return some of the cost for this expensive process to the PAs who use this service."

Although the labor cost alone for each appeal heard by the Review Panel can be up to $500, the $100 fee was determined to be sufficient to discourage frivolous appeals but manageable for those who may have legitimate appeals. The fee was found to be consistent with what several other healthcare certification boards charge for this type of service.

Presented at the November Board meeting, the results from NCCPA’s recertification market study indicated that of PAs who have recertified at least once, 73 percent are satisfied with the recertification options currently available.

NCCPA commissioned the study in March to evaluate the current recertification options and a proposed new option called the practice-focused or modular PANRE, an idea developed by the 2002 Future Development of Recertification Task Force. 

The proposed practice-focused PANRE would be structured as a two-part exam.  All PAs selecting this option would take a core section focused on primary care.  Each PA could then select one of four different practice areas from which the remainder of the exam questions would be drawn.

“Evaluating PANRE is part of our ongoing effort to ensure that our exams actually measure what they need to measure for PAs in all specialties,” said Gary Winchester, MD, chairman of the board.  “In 2002, we found that there was less than three percent difference in the passing rates of generalist and specialist PAs who took the recertification exams.  However, we recognize that the concerns reach beyond exam performance, and we’re committed to continuing to look at those issues.”

The study’s results illustrated that given the option to select a practice-focused exam component, most PAs would select another primary care module, essentially creating an exam that mirrors the current PANRE. 

Survey respondents also viewed a fee increase associated with creating the new practice-focused modules negatively and indicated that such an increase would decrease their satisfaction with the recertification options. 

Consequently, the Board elected not to move forward with a practice-focused PANRE at this time due to the increased cost and the limited support the proposed option received from PAs. 

“In evaluating the recertification exams we offer, our goals are to enhance the certification credential and to be responsive to the needs and concerns expressed by PAs,” said Janet Lathrop, NCCPA president.  “With the market study, we listened to your thoughts and know that these are complex issues for which we have yet to find a widely acceptable solution.”

Moving forward, NCCPA will continually monitor the needs and concerns of PAs and the profession as a whole and use that feedback to reevaluate the exams offered.

The survey questionnaire was sent to 10,000 certified PAs with e-mail addresses in NCCPA’s database. 

A. Yes! Up to 50 Category I CME hours you earned in excess of the required amount for certification maintenance in the last six years can be submitted in Elective Component Area 1 for
Pathway II. If you already logged the hours with NCCPA and the credits were approved, you can simply record the number of extra hours on the elective component form. If you have not logged the hours, you will need to log them on the elective component form. DO NOT try to log old Category I CME credits on the Web for elective component points.

A. Yes. The Advanced Cardiac Life Support meets AAPA’s definition of Category I credit, and NCCPA accepts it. If you do not receive a card or certificate of completion, keep any documentation, such as registration paperwork or payment, to prove you attended the course should you be selected for auditing.

A. NCCPA now offers two ways to regain your certification. If your certification lapsed because of a failure to log CME, submit a reregistration application, or pay any fees, you can regain your certification by submitting the outstanding paperwork and paying a reinstatement fee. If your certification lapsed because of a failure to earn enough CME or because you failed an exam, you can regain your certification by passing a recertification exam – if you meet CME requirements – or by passing PANCE.

Chair: John W. Ogle, MD
Chair-Elect: Disty Pearson, PA-C
Immediate Past Chair: Gary Winchester, MD
Treasurer: Ed Dunn, MBA, SPHR
Secretary: Joe Lagana, EdD
Executive Committee Member-at-Large: Bill Kohlhepp, MHA, PA-C

Also, Ruth Ballweg, PA-C, MPA, was elected to serve a second term as a PA director at large.

NCCPA thanks its outgoing Board members COL. William Tozier, PhD, MPH, PA-C; M. Dewayne Andrews, MD, FACP; and Lt. Col. Katherine J. Adamson, PA-C, MMS, MA, for their dedicated service to NCCPA and the PA profession.