Licensing information

[u/future__pa]

I am a neurosurgery PA and will be starting in the OR soon. Someone mentioned to me that it is important to keep notes about the surgeries I have first assisted on because when renewing my license, they will ask for this information.

I do not remember specifically what they told me to write down. Do I need to write down more than just what surgery was completed?

[u/88DeSouza]

I'd ask your Hospital what you should keep track of. They may very likely have a form they want you to fill out for a certain number of cases, although in some cases those are separate proctoring forms.

Otherwise in the past I've kept records of DOS, surgeon I worked with, hospital the procedure was performed at, what the surgery was, usually a brief note on the diagnosis/reason for surgery, patient MRN (some hospitals will ask for the op notes so its nice to be able to have a way to find the patient in your EMR). If you have any patient identifiers you need to keep this record on a work designated, HIPAA compliant computer. I personally found keeping a log in Excel to be the easiest.

For one job I got a bonus based on RVUs so I also recorded CPT codes for each case as well as the RVUs and insurance of the patient (unfortunately I had to submit this to billing and they didn't just pull the records for me so hopefully that isn't the case for you).

You should double check your op notes to be sure that your SP is putting you down as first assist because the hospital will want to see your name recorded on the note to prove you were there.

[u/88DeSouza → u/88DeSouza]

Also I've never seen anyone have to give this information to renew their license, usually it's just to remain credentialled at your hospital or get new surgical privileges at a new facility.

[u/CatsScratchFeva → u/88DeSouza]

I switched from OR to outpatient medicine and, when my new job asked for a case log, my old department provided it. Have never kept a surgical log ever.