What does this research mean for the field?

Physician assistants and nurse practitioners provide primary care in a manner largely similar to physicians, handling approximately 11 percent of visits in practices that employ them. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.INCREMENTAL. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

July 1, 2001

Use Of Physician Assistants And Nurse Practitioners In Primary Care, 1995–1999

Key Points

To analyze the incorporation of physician assistants and nurse practitioners in primary care from 1995 to 1999.
Analyzed data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Surveys (1995-1999)
Evaluated the percentage of visits involving PAs and NPs in primary care settings
Compared the nature of care provided by PAs, NPs, and physicians
About 25% of primary care physicians employed PAs or NPs for approximately 11% of patient visits.
NPs were found to provide counseling and education during a higher percentage of visits compared to PAs and physicians.
Overall, PAs and NPs delivered primary care similarly to traditional physician care.

Abstract

Federal policies and state legislation encourage the use of physician assistants (PAs) and nurse practitioners (NPs) in primary care, although the nature of their work has not been fully analyzed. In this paper we analyze primary care physician office encounter data from the 1995-1999 National Ambulatory Medical Care Surveys. About one-quarter of primary care office-based physicians used PAs and/or NPs for an average of 11 percent of visits. The mean age of patients seen by physicians was greater than that for PAs or NPs. NPs provided counseling/education during a higher proportion of visits than did PAs or physicians. Overall, this study suggests that PAs and NPs are providing primary care in a way that is similar to physician care.

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