ARIZONA REGULATORY BOARD OF
PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS

FISCAL YEAR 2007-2008
ANNUAL REPORT

9545 East Doubletree Ranch Road
Scottsdale, Arizona 85258
(480) 551-2700 or toll-free (877) 255-2212
www.azpa.gov

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Letter to the Governor, Janet Napolitano …………………………………………..……….. Page 2
.
ARIZONA REGULATORY BOARD OF PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS
Board Membership ………………………………………………………………………….. Pages 3-5
Licensing ……………………………………………………………………………...……… Page 6
Regulation ………….………………………………………………………………………… Page 7

Page 1

LETTER TO THE GOVERNOR
JANET NAPOLITANO

Governor
Janet Napolitano

Members of the Arizona Regulatory
Board of Physician Assistants
Joan M. Reynolds, M.M.S., P.A.-C
Chair/Physician Assistant Member
Peter C. Wagner, D.O.
Vice Chair/Physician Member
Randy Danielson, Ph.D., P.A.-C
Physician Assistant Member
Michael E. Goodwin, P.A.
Physician Assistant Member
James E. Meyer, M.D., F.A.C.P.
Physician Member
Kristen Neal, P.A.-C, M.P.H.
Physician Assistant Member
Sigmund G. Popko, J.D.
Public Member
Anna Marie Prassa
Public Member
Kelli M. Ward, D.O.,M.P.H.,FACOFP
Physician Member

Executive Staff
Lisa S. Wynn, B.S.
Executive Director
Amanda J. Diehl, M.P.A., C.P.M.
Deputy Executive Director
Roger Downey
Media Relations Officer

D

ear Governor Napolitano:
On behalf of the Arizona Regulatory Board
of Physician Assistants, I submit to you our 2008 Annual Report.

The statutes enacted nearly 36 years ago in Arizona created
the physician assistant profession. Initially, a PA worked alongside
a single, supervising physician in a private office. The profession
began to evolve, however, due to the pressures of delivering quality
healthcare to a rapidly increasing population facing a growing shortage of physicians. Now, physician assistants may work geographically apart from their supervising physicians; they may work with
multiple physicians in large group practices; or they may see patients in busy emergency departments—settings unforeseen when
the Physician Assistant Practice Act was approved in 1973.
To resolve the ambiguity and confusion in the community
about physician supervision of PAs, the Arizona Regulatory Board
of Physician Assistants worked with the Arizona Medical Board
and with stakeholders to develop together a new set of Guidelines
for PA Supervision that were clear and understandable. They balance the need for the evolution of safe healthcare practices with the
requirement to maintain proper oversight of the profession.
This fiscal year, the Arizona Regulatory Board of Physician
Assistants will turn its attention to rewriting the physician assistant
rules and drafting rules for PAs performing minor surgeries. The
Board’s goal, as always, is to enhance patient safety.
Sincerely,

Lisa S. Wynn
Executive Director

Page 2

ARIZONA REGULATORY BOARD OF PHYSICIAN
ASSISTANTS MEMBERSHIP
Joan M. Reynolds, M.M.S., P.A.-C,
Board Chair, is a practicing physician assistant.
She has worked at Mayo
Clinic Scottsdale since
1993. She has been employed as a physician assistant since 1986, serving in
primary care settings.
Ms. Reynolds earned her
Physician Assistant degree
at Hahnemann University
in Philadelphia. She received her Masters Degree
in Medical Science through Nova Southeastern
University.

Dr. Wagner was the acting clinical director at Sells
Indian Hospital, a clinical lecturer at the UofA
Medical School, and the chairman of the Family
Medical Department at Mesa General Hospital.
Dr. Wagner has served on the Arizona Osteopathic Association Committee on Comprehensive
Planning and is a published author.
Dr. Wagner received his D.O. Degree from
Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, in
Kirksville, Missouri He is a member of the
American Osteopathic Association and the
American College of General Practice.

She serves as a preceptor for PA students in Internal Medicine at Mayo Clinic Scottsdale, and is
an Adjunct Faculty Member for both Midwestern
University in Glendale and for Arizona School of
Health Sciences, a school of A.T. Still University
in Mesa.

Randy Danielson, Ph.D., P.A.-C is
Professor and Dean of the Arizona School of
Health Sciences (ASHS),
a School of A.T. Still
University in Mesa. He
is a former Chair in the
Department of Physician
Assistant Studies at
ASHS. He is the Immediate Past Chair of the
National Commission
on Certification of Physician
Assistants
(NCCPA).

Peter C. Wagner, D.O., Vice-Chair and
a physician member, is Board-certified in Family
Medicine and is the medical director of the Gila
Crossing Clinic on the
Pima Indian Reservation
south of Phoenix.

Dr. Danielsen has served on the NCCPA Board
in variety of capacities since 1997. He is also a
member of the American Academy of Physician
Assistants and the American Academy of Physician Assistants. He is the PA Editor-in-Chief and
Chair of the Editorial Board of Clinician Reviews
Journal.

Dr. Wagner is a member
of the clinical faculty at the
Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine in Glendale, Arizona.

Dr. Danielsen received his PA training at the University of Utah MEDEX program, his Masters in
PA Studies from the University of Nebraska, and
a Doctorate in Education from the Union Institute & University.

She is past-president of the Arizona State Association of Physician Assistants and has served as
an elected delegate to the American Academy of
Physician Assistants in the House of Delegates
for the past 10 years.

Page 3

ARIZONA REGULATORY BOARD OF PHYSICIAN
ASSISTANTS MEMBERSHIP
Michael E. Goodwin, P.A., is the founder
and owner of Occupational Assessments & Services, an occupational
medicine provider.
He
received his PA training at
the U.S. Medical Center in
Springfield, Missouri. He
attended the University of
Cincinnati residency in
occupational medicine.
Mr. Goodwin is currently a
member of the Executive
Board, Section on Medical
Center Occupational Health for the American
College of Occupational and Environmental
Medicine and an adjunct faculty member at the
Arizona School of Health Sciences, a School of
A.T. Still University in Mesa.
Mr. Goodwin is a founding member of the Arizona State Association of Physician Assistants
and holds memberships in the American Academy of Physician Assistants in Occupational and
Environmental Medicine, in the American Academy of Physician Assistants and in the Arizona
Medical Association.

James E. Meyer, M.D., a physician member
of the Board, is the Medical Director of the Physician Assistant Program
and an Associate Professor for the College of
Health Sciences at Midwestern University in
Glendale. He is also a
Medical Director with
Hospice of the Valley.
Dr. Meyer received his
medical education at the
University of Michigan

Medical School and completed a medicine internship at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center at
Penn State University, followed by an Internal
Medicine residency at the University of Colorado
Medical Center. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine and is Boardcertified by the American Board of Hospice and
Palliative Medicine.
He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, a Clinical Member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, and a
member of the American Medical Association,
the Maricopa County Medical Society, and the
American Academy of Hospice and Palliative
Medicine.

Kristen Neal, P.A.-C, M.P.H., works
as a Physician Assistant in a Scottsdale family
medicine practice and
has had an Arizona
license since 1999.
She received her Physician Assistant education at Midwestern
University in Glendale and her Master
of Public Health
from the University
of Utah.
Ms. Neal currently serves as an Adjunct Clinic
Professor at Midwestern University. In her other
professional activities, she has been the Clinical
Editor for the Journal of the American Academy
of Physician Assistants. And she has served as
Chief Delegate for the Arizona Chapter of the
Academy’s House of Delegates and as Chair of
the Legal and Legislative Affairs Committee for
the Arizona State Association of Physician Assistants.
Page 4

ARIZONA REGULATORY BOARD OF PHYSICIAN
ASSISTANTS MEMBERSHIP
Sigmund G. Popko, J.D., is a public
member of the Board. He is a Clinical Professor
of Law at Arizona State
University in Tempe. Mr.
Popko received his law
degree Summa Cum Laude
from the University of
Arizona College of Law in
Tucson. Prior to assuming
his teaching position at
ASU, he served as a Visiting Attorney for the
United States Sentencing
Commission in Washington, D.C., and as an Assistant Federal Public Defender for the Federal Public Defender’s Office,
District of Arizona.
Mr. Popko is a member of Arizona Attorneys for
Criminal Justice. He is the co-author of a treatise
on the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, “Federal
Sentencing Law and Practice.”

Anna Marie Prassa, a public member of
the Board, founded Executive Stress Busters,
Inc., and pioneered the 15minute, in-office massage
concept to combat computer and work related injuries. She also opened
Natural Day Spa and is a
highly-trained motivational
speaker.
Ms. Prassa has a Bachelor
of Science Degree. She has
completed workshops and
medical programs at the Touch Research Institute
at the University of Miami School of Medicine
and has attended an internship program at the
University of Arizona in Tucson.

In April 2001, Ms. Prassa sold her businesses for
a less stressful life and to pursue her speaking
career.

Kelli M. Ward, D.O., M.P.H.,
FACOFP, a physician member of the Board, has

had a medical practice in
Lake Havasu City since
1999.
She is Boardcertified in Family
Practice and has a Masters Degree in Public
Health.

Dr. Ward received her
medical degree from the
West Virginia School of
Osteopathic Medicine
and continued her education with a family practice residency, a faculty
development fellowship and clinician educator
fellowship in Michigan. Additionally, she completed the Osteopathic Heritage Health Policy
Fellowship in 2003.
Dr. Ward is the president of the Arizona Society
of the American College of Osteopathic Family
Physicians, the secretary-treasurer of the Arizona
Osteopathic Medical Association, and a member
of the American Osteopathic Association.
Dr Ward lectures nationally on subjects such as
bioterrorism, water safety, electronic medical
records, and obesity. She is active in her community, serving as a Chamber of Commerce
ambassador, singing in the Praise Team at her
church, and performing in community theater
productions. She is married and has two children.

In the past, Ms. Prassa has served on the Arizona
Homeopathic Board of Medical Examiners and
on the Arizona Acupuncture Board of Examiners.
Page 5

LICENSING
The Arizona Regulatory Board of Physician Assistants added nearly nine
percent more licensees in FY2008 after a dip in applicants during the previous
year and is on a pace to hit the 2,000 mark sometime in the next two years.
The dual pressures of a rapidly growing
population and the increasing number of retiring
physicians have placed greater emphasis on the
role of physician assistants in Arizona.
Physician assistants help enhance the
quality of patient care in a variety of settings, especially in rural areas of the state where the shortage of primary care physicians is most acute.
They see patients who might have to travel several hours or wait days for appointments with
their supervising physicians.

Hospitals have turned to physician assistants to help physicians cover busy emergency
rooms and for other medical tasks.
The profession has evolved in the community beyond what the Legislature envisioned in
1973 when it created the Physician Assistant Practice Act. As a result, the Arizona Regulatory
Board of Physician Assistants and the Arizona
Medical Board worked with stakeholders during
the fiscal year to develop new guidelines for supervision of PAs to reflect their work in today’s
world.

Licenses
FY 07

FY 08

1,572

1,711

Licenses Issued

191

204

Temporary Licenses Issued

20

24

1,103

1,521

17

20

Total Number of Physician Assistants

Supervision Notifications Processed
Average Number of Days to approve a PA licensing application
(Date of receipt of fully completed application to final issue)

Page 7

REGULATION
The regulatory duties for the Arizona Regulatory Board of Physician assistants usually begin when a complaint is received. Board Staff opens
an investigation when it determines that an allegation, if true, would be a violation of the Physician Assistant Practice Act.
The Board monitors the compliance of
those licensees who have received practice restrictions, limitations and probations. Board
Compliance Officers conduct random chart
reviews, review physician records and report any
findings of non-compliance.
Thirteen physician assistants participated in the Monitored Aftercare Program during FY2008, while three PAs were monitored
for health problems.

Board Staff ensure PAs comply with program requirements and are safe to practice medicine. Findings of non-compliance are brought to
the Board’s attention.
A Letter of Reprimand was the most
common disciplinary order issued by the Board in
FY2008. A disciplinary order represents the
Board’s official finding that a physician assistant
has committed “unprofessional conduct.”

PA Regulation
FY 07

FY 08

Investigations Remaining Open at Fiscal Year’s End

15

24

Number of PAs Monitored for Compliance

5

5

Number of PAs in Monitored Aftercare Program (MAP)

14

13

Number of PAs in Monitored for Health Problems (PHP)

0

3

Fiscal Year 2008 Disciplinary Board Orders

5

5
4

4

3
N umbe r of C a se s
2
1

1
0

0
Loss of Li cense

P r act i ce Rest r i cti on

0
Decr ee of Censur e

Letter of Repr i mand

P r obati on

Page 8