College of Saint Mary Faculty Member Advocates for Physician Assistants on Capitol Hill

OMAHA, Neb. – A College of Saint Mary faculty member was one of three physician assistants (PA) representing Nebraska and advocating for their profession during the American Academy of Physician Associates’ (AAPA) annual Leadership & Advocacy Summit on Sept. 12-14 in Washington, D.C.

Risa Zimmerman, MBA, MPAS, PA-C, DFAAPA, director of clinical education and assistant professor of Physician Assistant Studies at CSM, met with legislative aides for Sens. Deb Fischer and Pete Ricketts and Reps. Don Bacon, Mike Flood and Adrian Smith to advocate for two bills that would help PAs efficiently provide care.

The Improving Access to Workers’ Compensation for Injured Workers Act would modernize the Federal Employees Compensation Act so that PAs and nurse practitioners (NP) can provide care for injured federal workers if the patient chooses.

As it stands now, “If I’m working in a clinic and I see a postal worker and he injures himself in his garden, I can see him,” Zimmerman said. “If he injures himself lifting a bag of mail, I cannot see him.”

The ACO Assignment Improvement Act allows patients who see PAs, NPs and other providers to enroll in Medicare Accountable Care Organizations easily. Currently, patients who primarily receive care from PAs, NPs or clinical nurse specialists cannot be assigned to a Medicare ACO without first seeing a physician or self-selecting an ACO affiliation. Rep. Smith is a co-sponsor of this bill.

Neither bill changes the scope of practice nor increases federal spending. Instead, the changes would modernize the wording to allow PAs to practice efficiently. While the PA profession has been around for 50 years, some of the language has become outdated as the profession has grown.

“Our role has evolved,” said Zimmerman, president-elect of the Nebraska Academy of PAs. “What PAs can do now is completely different than what PAs could do 10 to 15 years ago.”

Zimmerman, the faculty adviser of the CSM Physician Assistant Student Society, hopes she can encourage students to advocate for the profession and get involved on the national level.

“I want them to do things that walk the mission and the vision of College of Saint Mary,” she said. “I would love to bring a couple of students to the summit to get them experience and to feel the energy you get when you’re there and connect with the other students.”