At its May meeting, NCCPA’s Board of Directors endorsed Competencies for the PA Profession, a document produced by an inter-organizational workgroup including representatives from NCCPA, the American Academy of PAs, the Association of PA Programs and the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the PA.

The Competencies document represents almost two years of effort on the part of those organizations. NCCPA initiated the project in 2003 when its Board decided to better define PA competencies as the first step in responding to the growing public cry for higher quality and greater accountability in health care. The other three national PA organizations joined the effort last year, and the resulting document has since been endorsed by ARC-PA, NCCPA and AAPA. APAP member programs will be asked to endorse the document this November.

NCCPA chair elect, PA educator and former AAPA president, Bill Kohlhepp, PA-C, spearheaded the project for NCCPA. He said: “This document is of seminal importance for our profession at a time when the public and almost all of health care is taking a critical look at competency assessment. By taking a unified approach to this important task, these four organizations have made a powerful statement about our profession’s commitment to promoting competence in PA practice.”

The four-page document provides definitions for the six core competencies identified in its central statement: “Professional competencies for physician assistants include the effective and appropriate application of medical knowledge, interpersonal and communication skills, patient care, professionalism, practice-based learning and improvement, systems-based practice, as well as an unwavering commitment to continual learning, professional growth and the physician-PA team, for the benefit of patients and the larger community being served.”

As stated in its introduction, the purpose of the Competencies document is “to communicate to the PA profession and the public a set of competencies that all physician assistants regardless of specialty or setting are expected to acquire and maintain throughout their careers. This document serves as a map for the individual PA, the physician-PA team and organizations that are committed to promoting the development and maintenance of these professional competencies among physician assistants.”

Leaders of the four organizations involved in the project are scheduled to meet again in September to discuss the project’s next steps, which will focus on reviewing the competencies to determine how their development is currently being fostered, which ones are already being adequately assessed and—among the rest—whether, how, how often and by whom they should be assessed or measured.

After redesigning the personal certification record at NCCPA Connect in March, NCCPA offers new services and tips to ensure that the site best serves PAs’ needs.

Color Coding
The most noticeable change is an expansion of the intuitive color-coding system on the My Record page to include yellow cautionary messages. The yellow messaging indicates that there are outstanding requirements due the next calendar year.

“This change comes in response to feedback from PAs who thought the red messaging meant that they had already missed deadlines,” said Lori Leal, NCCPA’s director of operations and finance. “Since we wanted a solution that still drew attention to upcoming requirements, it just seemed logical to extend the color scheme to include a yellow caution for PAs who are not in their certificate expiration year.”

The yellow messages will change to red at the beginning of the certificate expiration year to indicate that the deadline to submit requirements is approaching.

Credit Card Payments
Another change protects PAs who submit payments online from being charged a $35 fee if they mistype their credit card number or expiration date.

Previously, credit card payments were processed only once a day. Then, if the card was declined, NCCPA charged PAs a $35 fee to cover the cost of bank fees and processing a new payment, regardless of whether the decline was for insufficient funds or simply because the PA miskeyed the information.

“This new system checks with Visa or MasterCard when you click ‘Submit’ and notifies you on the same screen if the card isn’t approved,” said Jackie Stoudenmire, NCCPA’s accounting manager. “A process that used to take days is now instantaneous, and there’s no declined fee for Web users. You can simply correct the numbers or use a different credit card and resubmit the payment.”

New Security Protocols
Haven’t had a chance to check out the new Web site because of problems signing in?

Security protocols introduced in March help NCCPA better protect your personal information on the Web. Here are some tips to assist you:

• If you can’t remember your password and have unsuccessfully used the “Forgot Password” link, your e-mail address may be outdated. Send your current e-mail address, along with your name and certificate number, to nccpa@nccpa.net. Once NCCPA notifies you that the change was made, try signing in again using the “Forgot Password” link.
  


• When setting up a new account or changing your password, only click the e-mail verification once and wait for the e-mail to be delivered. Delivery may take several minutes or hours depending on the speed of your Internet Service Provider. If you don’t receive an e-mail within a reasonable time, check your e-mail settings to ensure that neither nccpa@nccpa.net nor newsletter@nccpa.net is on a spam or junk mail list.
  

NCCPA announced the 2006 exam offerings – including expanded PANRE windows and changes to Pathway II – that were designed for the largest recertification and initial certification populations to date.

“With more than 9,100 PAs expected to recertify in 2006, we knew that we had to carefully plan and evaluate solutions to accommodate all PAs and ensure the financial independence of each of our exams,” said Janet J. Lathrop, NCCPA president. “To achieve that end, we reviewed the testing windows, exam delivery methods and cost for our recertification exams.”

To meet the demand of the 79% of PAs who choose the Physician Assistant National Recertifying Exam (PANRE), available testing time for PANRE was expanded to 25 weeks a year to ensure that enough spaces would be available at Prometric testing centers for PAs to schedule their exams.

The costs associated with PANRE were reviewed and found to adequately cover the expenses incurred in the development and maintenance of the exam; so for the sixth year since computer-based testing was implemented in 2000, the application fee for PANRE will remain $300.

“Thanks to our investment in technology and PAs’ willingness to take advantage of the many services offered at our Web site, we’ve been able to keep up with the growing PA population and improve the service we provide without increasing costs in most areas,” said Lathrop.

For the take-at-home Pathway II exam, NCCPA is continuing to move forward with the changes first announced in the Winter 2004 NCCPA News, including the conversion of the Pathway II exam to a Web-based exam and an increased exam application fee of $475.

“The cost of administering the exam and its additional eligibility requirement for the 21% of examinees who consistently choose Pathway II exceeded the current fee by about $340 per examinee last year,” said Lori Leal, NCCPA’s director of operations and finance. “To close that gap, we’re lowering costs by moving to Web-based delivery and raising the fee to help cover the rest.”

NCCPA also took an additional step to help curtail the increasing cost of Pathway II by developing limited capabilities for PAs to submit their elective component requirement via the Web.

Finally, the PA profession is expected to continue to grow next year with more than 4,500 new graduates expected to take the Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam (PANCE).

PANCE will be offered during four overlapping windows at the current exam fee of $425.

For more information about the 2006 exams, including application deadlines, please visit NCCPA Connect. Registration will open online for all of the 2006 exams in September, and PAs are encouraged to register early due to next year’s very large testing population.

2006 Exam Schedule

PANCE

NCCPA to Develop Self-Assessment Exams

At its May meeting, NCCPA’s Board of Directors approved the development of online self-assessment exams for those preparing for certification and recertification exams.

The self-assessment exams will include questions that have been retired from the PANCE and PANRE item banks for use on these new exams. The new exams will be introduced in the first or second quarter of 2006, and pricing will be established later this year.

“This is an opportunity for PAs to evaluate their own preparedness for certification or recertification and identify areas where they might want to focus their study and CME efforts,” said Randy D. Danielsen, PhD, PA-C, chair of the NCCPA committee that developed the concept. “We also hope to lower anxiety about the exam and hurt the market for illegally obtained NCCPA exam questions.”

The decision to develop self-assessment exams comes after more than a year of discussion and evaluation by the Research and Test Development Committee, charged in 2004 with evaluating the desirability and feasibility of new products that would increase PA satisfaction.

When surveyed last year about self-assessment exams, PAs responded enthusiastically with 93% of PANCE and 85% of PANRE examinees saying they likely or definitely would take a self-assessment exam before their next NCCPA exam if such a service was available.

“We’re excited to be able to offer this new service that meets PAs’ needs while removing both the fear of the unknown and the impetus to seek access to test questions illegally,” said Janet J. Lathrop, NCCPA president.

Check later issues of NCCPA News and visit NCCPA Connect for updates later this year about the availability of and pricing information for the self-assessment exams.

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Beware of Test Prep Trap

Recently, NCCPA has discovered solicitations published by review course and test preparation sources for item writers, some of which specifically indicate they are looking for PAs who have recently taken a NCCPA exam.

PAs should beware of responding to such solicitations. NCCPA policies and copyright laws strictly prohibit examinees from reproducing test questions—even from memory—after taking a NCCPA exam. In fact, even reproducing the “spirit” of the question may trigger legal liability.

“NCCPA takes protecting the integrity of our exams very seriously,” said NCCPA President Janet J. Lathrop. “The test prep industry and those who participate in it should tread very lightly in this area. Stealing copyrighted test questions is illegal, and we will take disciplinary and legal action against those who do it.”

Further, when discovered, exposed items must be removed from item banks and replaced with new questions ata cost of about $500 per new item -- a cost that is unfortunately born by the larger certified PA community.

PAs who have evidence that test questions are being illicitly reproduced are encouraged to contact NCCPA with that information.

“We all have a stake in making sure that NCCPA’s exams are secure and that earning and maintaining certification remains a meaningful accomplishment,” said Lathrop.

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PAs Lose Big for Faking Certification

NCCPA’s Review Panel wants to issue a warning to all uncertified PAs: Lie about being certified, and you will face steep consequences.

In 2004 alone, the panel took disciplinary action against three PAs who had altered expired NCCPA certificates or otherwise claimed to be certified when they were not. In addition to stripping their eligibility to regain certification indefinitely, NCCPA notified their employers and state licensing boards about the matter.

“There is just no excuse for lying about being certified,” said NCCPA Review Panel chairman, Marshall Sinback, Jr., PA-C. “Uncertified PAs who find themselves cornered by credentialing offices or state requirements need to understand the serious consequences they’ll face for lying about their status. It’s better to lose a job than blow your entire career.”

The panel will consider another certification falsification case this summer and hopes that publicizing this issue will make others think twice before finding themselves in this same situation.

PAs who have lost certification and wish to regain it can do so by passing PANCE (offered virtually year-round) or—if they meet certain CME requirements—one of the recertification exams.

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Testing Expert Joins NCCPA Staff

Scott Arbet, PhD, formerly with the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME), joined NCCPA as director of research and test development on July 1.

Dr. Arbet worked for NBME for 10 years, ultimately serving as associate vice president of client services. In that role, he managed over 60 NBME client examinations, including the NCCPA account.

“Scott is already intimately familiar with NCCPA’s exams, policies and procedures,” said NCCPA President Janet J. Lathrop. “We’re thrilled to have him become a full-time member of our team, particularly as we continue to focus on exam security issues, introducing the new self-assessment exams and examining new testing modalities.”

Dr. Arbet said, “NCCPA has a great team of professionals who are passionate about what they do. They are dedicated to the work of the organization. I’m proud to be joining the staff and the volunteer Board and committee members who work very hard to create the best examinations possible. I look forward to helping take NCCPA’s examinations and research program to new heights.”

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The NCCPA News Goes Paperless

The NCCPA News is going paperless beginning with the 2006 editions.

“With almost 50,000 PAs already receiving the newsletter electronically, now just seems the right time to make this transition,” said Ragan Cohn, head of NCCPA’s communications department. “E-mail delivery has the advantage of being faster and more cost-effective by eliminating the delay and cost associated with printing and mailing the paper newsletter.”

PAs with a valid e-mail address have the option to receive the newsletter in HTML, which includes colors and graphics, or plain-text format.

The approximately 8,000 PAs who currently receive the paper version can sign in to their personal certification record and choose HTML or text-only e-mail delivery.

PAs without a valid e-mail address can access the newsletter on the Web by clicking the “In the News” link on the homepage. Or, take advantage of one of many available free e-mail services, and then just be sure to e-mail nccpa@nccpa.net with your new e-mail address.

If you’re not a PA but would like to receive the NCCPA News electronically in 2006, e-mail tiffanyf@nccpa.net with your name, affiliation and e-mail address.

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Dates and Deadlines

Click here for a current listing of dates and deadlines.

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