Minutes for HB2295 - Committee on Health and Human Services

Short Title

Providing for the licensure of anesthesiologist assistants.

Minutes Content for Mon, Feb 18, 2019

Kyle Nevills provided testimony on behalf of the Kansas Association of Nurse Anesthesiologists. He noted that there exists a geographic maldistribution of Anesthesiologists in the state. Most are located in urban areas. The introduction of Anesthesiologist Assistants will impact training for our Nurse Anesthetists by reducing the opportunity to find clinical sites. This will require further travel within the state or to possible out of state locations. This will promote the loss of graduates to other states (Attachment 28).

Mr. Nevills fielded questions from the committee.

Donna Nyght began her testimony by stating that she does not represent the view of the University of Kansas Medical School. Background history of the University of Kansas Nurse Anesthesia Department was provided, up to and including when the program was granted full department status in the School of Applied Health. The number of graduates per class has grown and she has been directed to add additional students in the future. If Anesthesia Assistants are hired at the KU Health Center, it would force the Program to reduce the number of Student Registered Nurse Anesthetists (SRNA) due to the lack of clinical training spaces available. This would also affect programs at Newman and Texas Wesleyan University (Attachment 29).

Ms. Nyght fielded questions from the committee.

Christian Jackson provided testimony in opposition to the bill based on his personal work experiences. There had been an exodus of many CRNA for various reasons, with one being the increasing tensions created with the influx of Anesthesiologist Assistants. The influx has also reduced the number of opportunities for training for the SRNA's. This has caused a reduction in the number of CRNA's (Attachment 30).

Mr. Jackson fielded questions from the committee.

Bob Wright, representing Newman Regional Health, testified that a supervised anesthesiologist assistant (AA) model is not feasible for the vast majority of hospitals in Kansas. A hospital fully utilizing four operating rooms would lose money with the AA staffing model. Other than in highly populated areas, 90% of all hospitals in Kansas will not benefit from the entry of Anesthesiologist Assistants in tho its healthcare market (Attachment 31).

Dr. Annette Teijerio provided testimony related to the impact of using Anesthesiology Assistants (AA) in the state of Kansas. The concern derived from the data is that adding a physician extender in a non shortage state can decrease the level of care. There is also an economic impact to state revenue with the exodus of Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNA) leaving the state. CRNA's are able to fill in for Anesthesiologists while an AA needs supervision. In emergency situations, time is of the essences and can involve life threatening complications (Attachment 32).

Dr. Teijerio fielded questions from the committee.

Written only testimony in opposition to HB2295 was provided by:

Dr. Juan Quintana (Attachment 33)

Jeff Glasgow (Attachment 34)

Sharon Niemann (Attachment 35)

Jerry Campbell (Attachment 36)

Larry Finley (Attachment 37)

Ben Anderson (Attachment 38)

Kathy Ure (Attachment 39)