Survey: 9 in 10 PAs Believe the PA Licensure Compact is Taking Too Long to Implement

Last month, we wrote extensively about how the PA Licensure Compact was finally activated in nine states, paving the way for physician assistants (PAs) to easily travel across state lines and provide high-quality healthcare to patients in need. While it will take up to 24 months for the compact to become operational, when it does, PAs of a member state won't need an individual license from any other member state they wish to practice in.

The PA Licensure Compact stands to have a major impact on PAs across the country once implemented-and we wanted to hear directly from them about their opinions of the compact. Read on to learn more about the results of our recent survey of the PAs in our network!

PAs Overwhelmingly Support the Implementation of the PA Licensure Compact

One of the most striking results from our survey is the wide margin with which PAs support the implementation of the PA Licensure Compact.

A total number of 416 PAs with an opinion on the matter told us that they support the implementation of the compact (99.7%), with only one PA saying they do not.

9 in 10 PAs Believe the PA Licensure Compact is Taking Too Long to Implement

Although most PAs surveyed support the implementation of the PA Licensure Compact, many with an opinion on the matter still believe that it's taking too long for the compact to be implemented.

A total of 300 PAs who voiced an opinion (91%) agreed that the PA Licensure Compact is taking too long to implement, while 29 with an opinion disagreed (9%).

Locum Tenens and Non-Locum Tenens PAs Open to Travel

The compact aims to increase the ability for PAs to easily travel to a new state to provide critical healthcare services to patients in need.

Most of the PAs surveyed said that they would be more likely to consider working in a different state if there was a PA Licensure Compact, 100 of the 105 current locum tenens providers with an opinion (95%) and 301 of 318 of non-locum tenens PAs who voiced an opinion (95%) agreeing.

PA Opinions on Access to Care & Expansion of the Compact

PAs also say that the compact will increase patient access to high-quality healthcare, with around 402 of the 406 PAs who voiced an opinion (99%) agreeing with that statement.

In addition, 407 of the 409 PAs with an opinion (99.5%) agree that every state should implement the PA Licensure Compact.

Survey Methodology

The survey, which was conducted on SurveyMonkey from April 22 to April 29, 2024, garnered responses from 454 PAs in Barton Associates' network.

About Mike Connors

Mike Connors is the Content and PR Manager at Barton Associates. Originally from New Hampshire, he joined Barton in June 2023.

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