Data Snapshot: ED Patients Seen by PAs, NPs, and Physicians
February 1, 2014 | Health System Risk Management
Preview
As the number of patients being seen in the emergency department (ED) has increased over the past 20 years, understaffing of all types of providers has been a top risk management concern. To help fill this void, nonphysician providers such as physician assistants (PAs) and nurse practitioners (NPs) are increasingly seeing ED patients, sometimes without subsequent physician follow-up. “Figure. Providers Who Saw ED Patients, 2000 and 2010” shows Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data on the increasing proportion of those visits.
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