Study: More NPs, PAs work outside primary care

Greater reliance on physician assistants (PA) and nurse practitioners (NP) is seen as one way to ameliorate the widening primary care physician shortage. However, data suggest that less than half of all PAs currently practice primary care and nearly half of NPs practice outside primary care, according to a recent article posted on the American Family Physician website. In addition, the number of PAs and NPs working outside primary care is growing, according to researchers with the Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies in Family Medicine and Primary Care.

NPs and PAs initially emerged in response to a shortage and uneven distribution of physicians and have played important roles in many healthcare fields, including primary care services. However, a lack of consistent, comprehensive data has made it difficult to get an accurate assessment of where NPs and PAs are clinically active or where they practice, the researchers stated. They used the National Provider Identifier, which is now required for clinicians who file insurance claims for care, to arrive at their numbers. The findings suggest that “innovative policy solutions to increase access to primary care are still needed.”