Scottsdale,
Ariz. - The Executive Director of the Arizona Regulatory Board of Physician Assistants told Board members at the Board‘s quarterly meeting on November 16th, that the agency is not being financially subsidized by the Arizona Medical Board. Mr. Miller asked the Board to change its current practice of charging a combined fee for application and licensure and charge one fee for application and another for licensing. The Board unanimously approved the change. New physician assistants seeking a license will pay a $125 application fee. Once approved for a license, they will make a separate pro-rated payment for the annual $100 fee, based on when the license is approved.
Before beginning a practice, a licensee must supply the Board with a Notice of Supervision (NOS), listing his or her supervising physician and agents. After filing that initial NOS, a licensee will pay a $25 fee to add additional agents. And the Board approved a $5 increase in the fee for verification of licenses; they now cost $10.
During the discussion on changing the way the Board collects fees, Chair Albert Ray Tuttle, P.A.-C, asked Board staff to place on the agenda for the next meeting a discussion about changing the licensure cycle. Currently, physician assistants must renew their licenses each year. Tuttle said he would like to discuss licensing PA‘s for two years when the Board meets on March 1, 2006.
At that first meeting of 2006, the Board will also elect new officers. At the November meeting, they welcomed their newest member, Kelli M. Ward, D.O. In July, Governor Janet Napolitano appointed Dr. Ward, a resident of and physician in Lake Havasu City, to a four-year term. The State Senate must act on her appointment during the upcoming Legislative session.
The Board considered two investigations involving licensees. Board members voted to dismiss one case and ordered staff to draft Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law for a Letter of Reprimand in the other. The Board also voted to uphold the Executive Director‘s denial of an Arizona license to Linda Layton, P.A.-C, who had applied for a license, but was already practicing before it was approved.
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