Over the last several decades, information has been collected from health professionals during online license renewal. In 2018, Senate Enrolled Act 223 identified selected pieces of information (including educational and practice characteristics) as critical to the state of Indiana. Beginning in 2019, it will now be required for health professionals to provide this information when they renew their license.
Physician assistants (PAs) are medical practitioners who work under the supervision of a licensed physician. They play a vital role in the health care system by performing physical examinations, making diagnoses, and prescribing treatment to patients. In addition to these general responsibilities, PAs order and interpret laboratory tests, including X-rays, as well as suturing, splinting, and casting injuries. The physician assistant role was created in the 1960s to reducing barriers to accessing health care that had resulted from the increasing shortage or maldistribution of physicians, particularly in rural and underserved communities. Data on the PA workforce is critical to understanding capacity of this workforce in Indiana.
In 2016 all Physician Assistant who biennially renewed their license electronically were invited to complete this voluntary Survey Instrument administered by the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency (IPLA). The data used for the 2016 Pharmacists Data Report were extracted from the survey data from these files provided by IPLA through the Indiana State Department of Health.
This survey was administered between March 15th, 2018 – June 30th, 2018 to Physician Assistants. This instrument is used for data collection in biennium re-licensure of Physician Assistant professionals in the State of Indiana.