Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants Deliver High-Quality Care
While there will always be patients who are more comfortable being treated by their physician, the scope of nurse practitioners and physician assistants is much wider than one may think. It’s essentially on par with that of physicians. Especially if patients are regularly being faced with potential months-long waits to see their physician, the option of being seen by an NP or PA is certainly a viable one. Bianca Belcher, from the American Academy of Physician Assistants, explains: “The Medicare definition of services provided by PAs and NPs boils down to ‘services that are otherwise provided by an MD’…there is no special list of things that PAs can do or NPs can do.” Hiring NPs and PAs when physicians aren’t available or are too busy is a great way to continue treating the same volume of patients without sacrificing quality of care.Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants Can Work Independently
In attempts to accommodate the physician shortage, almost twenty states have granted more authority to nurse practitioners, allowing them to work without the supervision of a physician, according to the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP). And, despite their title implying otherwise, the same authority applies to physician assistants in most states. Allowing these roles to have this kind of independence is absolutely vital to any healthcare facility that is experiencing a physician shortage, as they are no longer required to sign off on things they were once required to, and business can continue uninterrupted.
