ISAPN: Action Alert-Nursing under attack!

SB 140

Sponsor: Senator Martinez
OPPOSE SB 140!
Illinois Association of Nurse Anesthetists (IANA),
Illinois Society for Advanced Practice Nursing (ISAPN), Illinois Nurses Association (INA)

SB 140: Creates the Interventional Pain Medicine Act

• Limits those who may practice interventional pain management to physicians, licensed to practice medicine in all of its branches, and would bring to an end CRNA practices
• CRNAs have a long-standing history of delivering anesthesia services, and CRNAs reportedly deliver approximately 32 million anesthetics annually. A critical component in the delivery of anesthesia care is pain management.
• This is NOT a bill about safety- it is a bill to ELIMINATE the competition.

"We have found no recent, high-level evidence that there are significant differences in safety between different anesthesia providers"

Oxford Press, British Journal of Anesthesia Comparative Effectiveness and Safety of Physician and Nurse Anesthetists: a narrative systematic review.

• SB 140 would allow ANY physician, regardless of their education, specialty practice or experience to do invasive procedures that are defined as 'surgery' under this proposal.
• SB 140 reduces patient access to CRNA pain management. Illinois has 35 designated critical access hospitals. CRNAs are the only provider of anesthesia and pain management care in many of these hospitals.
• A November 2010 rule tendered to the Alabama Medical Board with similar provisions stripping CRNA's of their licensed practice was tabled when the Federal Trade Commission published their opposition finding: "it would reduce the availability and raise the prices of chronic pain management services. In particular, the proposed rule could be especially burdensome for some of the most vulnerable citizens of the state."

We urge you to Vote 'NO!' on SB 140. Thank you.

SB 140 was introduced last Thursday and immediately assigned to committee for a hearing next Wednesday afternoon in the Licensed Activities Committee. The bill sponsor is the Licensed Activities Chairperson. Please contact committee members (contact information attached) and let them know of your opposition to the elimination of CRNA pain management services. Your CRNA colleagues need your help!!

Thank you,

Sue Clark, Lobbyist