The roles debate rolls on

The public may be more willing to accept wider roles for some healthcare professionals, but the debate over expanding practitioners’ scope of care rolls on, as this week’s news showed. A study in Health Affairs suggests there is potential for growth in the role that physician assistants and nurse practitioners play in providing primary care—more so if patients can see a PA or an NP sooner than they can see a physician. Meanwhile, in Illinois, measures to allow nurses, dentists and psychologists more authority in medical decision-making have been voted down in the face of entrenched physician opposition.

What the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has described as a “longstanding turf battle” probably won’t end any time soon—in Illinois or the rest of the nation. Caregivers, medical staff, and patients must stay tuned.

What would shifting roles mean for your credentialing and privileging team? Let me know at mstevens@hcpro.com. And thank you for reading!

Best regards,

Mary Stevens

Managing Editor, Credentialing Resource Center Insider