Paper: Physician-PA teams are key to patient-centered care

The American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) and the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) last week released a joint paper that advocates for physician-led, team-based care, while defining the critical roles physician assistants (PAs) and physicians play in improving access to high-quality patient care.

The paper, “Osteopathic Physicians and Physician Assistants: Excellence in Team-Based Medicine,” asserts that physician-PA teams are ideally suited to provide comprehensive, patient-centered, coordinated, accessible, ongoing care. AOA and AAPA also emphasizes that each medical practice must be able to determine appropriate clinical roles within the medical team, physician-to-PA ratios, and oversight processes to best meet the needs of that practice and its patients.