Physicians of the Year!

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Lee and Dr. Johnson for their award as Physicians of the Year by the Nebraska Academy of Physician Assistants! Drs. Lee and Johnson were surprised with the award yesterday at lunch. A few words from their nomination:

Dr. Johnson and Dr. Lee have been pioneers in promoting Physician's Assistant scope of practice, especially related to radiology. They were the first physicians to hire PAs in radiology in Nebraska, starting around 2000. This was historic, especially in Kearney, where the only PAs practicing were in orthopedic surgery at that time (no primary care PAs to be seen!). They saw the potential for PA services in radiology, especially in the areas of fluoroscopic exams and wire localizations for breast biopsies.

Along the way, they advocated for scope or practice privileges for PAs at the state level, helping to define and promote what PAs can do under direct and indirect supervision, expanding the current thinking of scope of practice. This also encompassed educating other physicians about the wide expanse of things that could be done by PAs under the appropriate level of supervision.

They have done all of this while revolutionizing radiology in our area. They were the first to bring stereotactic breast biopsy technology to this area and the first to use digital technology to facilitate quicker reads on radiology exams, in an era when most critical access hospitals were relying on the radiologist coming once or twice a week to their facility or using couriers. They continue to be innovators in radiology services, being the first outside of Omaha to bring SphenoCath technology into the state for treatment of migraines and trigeminal neuralgia, reading Low-Dose CT scans for lung cancer screenings, and many other advances. They are huge advocates for the critical access hospitals they provide services for, giving educational support to the radiology techs and medical staff member, alike. They have done all of this to help improve healthcare for all of the people at their critical access sites in Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma, not discriminating between care provided by MDs, DOs, PAs, NPs, or whomever they may need to relay vital radiology information to at the other end of the line. You will not find better believers,supporters, or promoters for PAs, in radiology or in the primary care clinic than Dr. Rodney L. Johnson and Dr. Jeffrey P. Lee, Radiologists.

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