Positive Physician Assistant Press
An article about health reform in Modern Healthcare mentions physician assistants and nurse practitioners.
Let’s also acknowledge that attracting more MDs isn’t the only answer here. Nurse practitioners and physician assistants already play a vital role, and their ranks continue to rise.
The number of practicing PAs, for instance, has been climbing since about 1970, according to an industry census by the American Academy of Physician Assistants, posting an 8% gain last year alone. A large share of these professionals serve in primary-care roles, and the totals would likely be higher if not for the fact that when it comes to regulation and licensing, some states are more flexible than others regarding these providers.
Nurse practitioners also play essential roles, working in tandem with docs in many medical practices, and they appear to be the caregiver of choice for the “convenient-care” clinic chains. A key obstacle here: the dearth of nursing faculty limits the number of women and men wishing to enter the nursing workforce.
Link