Statement highlights PAs’ critical role in healthcare

There are more than 93,000 physician assistants (PA) throughout the U.S., practicing medicine and increasing access to healthcare. Furthermore, PAs will play a critical role in meeting the demand for care among newly insured patients, according to Lawrence Herman, MPA, PA-C, DFAAPA, and president of the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA). October 6-12 is National Physician Assistant Week.

In an October 7 statement on the AAPA website, Herman noted that PAs can perform up to 85% of physicians’ duties, including prescribing medicine; 32% of PAs practice in primary care and 37% work in medically underserved counties of the U.S. According to the AAPA’s most recent annual survey of the PA profession, the top clinical procedures performed by PAs include: writing prescriptions (82%), acute care management (80%), chronic disease management (64%), follow-up patient calls (63%), care coordination (58%), clinical consultations (55%), and minor surgical procedures (52%), he wrote.