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Pennsylvania House of Representatives
08/23/2024 01:09 AM
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?SPick=20230&chamber=H&cosponId=42925
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House of Representatives
Session of 2023 - 2024 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted: June 25, 2024 03:22 PM
From: Representative Paul Takac
To: All House members
Subject: Tele-psych Service Protections for Advanced Practice Providers
 
In the new future, I will be introducing legislation to expand the utilization of PAs in behavioral health utilizing tele-psych in Pennsylvania. This legislation would modify the Outpatient Psychiatric Oversight Act by adding the option for the PA to have an active written agreement with a psychiatrist to be able to participate in tele-psych.
Act 76 of 2022 amended the Outpatient Psychiatric Oversight Act to allow PAs to perform tele-psych encounters after the COVID waivers ended. During the COVID-19 pandemic, PAs and many other behavioral health providers moved to an entirely virtual model. Tele-psych made mental health services more accessible for patients to get treatment from the privacy of their own home, particularly for patients in challenging geographic areas or who may be facing transportation barriers.
Per House Bill 2419, PAs were required to obtain a mental health certification within two years of being hired by an outpatient psychiatric clinic to conduct tele-psych visits or within two years of the effective date of the bill, whichever is later. This Act became effective July 11, 2022. This stipulation will expire July 11, 2024. PAs are trained in the medical model with a primary care focus. As part of a PA’s education, training and national certification, behavioral health education is incorporated. Obtaining an additional certification in a specialty is optional and not common. Even nationally, only 782 of nearly 170,000 PAs have obtained an optional CAQ.
If we do not pass this common-sense legislation, the following is at risk:
  • Any PAs hired within the last year would no longer be able to continue providing tele-psyche if they did not obtain this certification.
  • No additional PAs would be able to begin practicing tele-psyche because they would not be able to obtain the minimum number of needed hours of experience to meet one of the requirements to sit for the Psychiatry Exam.
  • Out of state PAs with tele-psych experience would be prevented from joining the Pennsylvania workforce.
  • Access to care could end or be greatly diminished.
Please join me in cosponsoring this important legislation.

Introduced as HB2464