PAs are increasingly recognized for enhancing access to safe, high-quality patient care.

The research literature provides evidence of their positive impact in various healthcare settings:

1. Analysis shows that PA education and training is, at minimum, equivalent to that of Advanced Practice Nurses. In Illinois, the authors argue that a less restrictive practice environment for PAs that aligns with legislation regarding APN practice would expand access to care (Kelly & Johnson, 2023)

2. Practices employing PAs and Nurse Practitioners (NPs) show an increased likelihood of Medicaid participation, indicating improved access to care for patients within these insurance schemes (Barnes et al., 2020)

3. The cost-effectiveness of PAs, in comparison to physicians, contributes to more efficient healthcare by delivering the same or better care outcomes at the same or less cost (van den Brink et al., 2021)

4. The presence of PAs in teams leads to reduced waiting and process times, lower charges, and equivalent or better health outcomes in various healthcare settings, including emergency medicine and orthopedics (Halter et al., 2018)

5. A multicenter study found that substituting inpatient care from medical doctors to PAs did not affect patients' length of stay or quality of care, suggesting that employing PAs is safe and leads to better patient experiences (Timmermans et al., 2017)

6. In the field of plastic surgery, the integration of PAs added economic value to practices and safely improved the effectiveness and efficiency of the workflow (Seyidova & Lin, 2022)

7. A study assessing the impact of neuroscience PAs in intensive care units showed that additional responsibilities undertaken by these professionals were associated with higher scores in safety, the ability to promote a team environment, and the ability to anticipate or prevent neurological deterioration (Robinson et al., 2014)

8. Research on emergency care staffing decision-making highlighted the increasing numbers of emergency department visits billed by PAs, indicating the critical role of PAs in emergency medicine and the need for further evaluation of their impact on productivity, safety, and patient flow (Heitz et al., 2020)

9. A multicenter matched-controlled study examining the effect of inpatient care substitution from medical doctors to PAs on medication prescribing found no significant difference in non-adherence to guidelines, suggesting that PAs' involvement in medication prescribing is safe and adheres to established guidelines (Bos et al., 2018)

10. An analysis of U.S. emergency care patterns compared the utilization of NPs/PAs with physicians, finding that NPs/PAs alone used fewer medications, diagnostic tests, procedures, hospitalizations, and low-value services than physicians (Mafi et al., 2022)

11. A study on advanced practice providers (APPs) on a multidisciplinary transplant team emphasized the critical role of APPs, including PAs, in transplant care, highlighting their beneficial role beyond primary care and their potential in specialized fields such as transplant (Chambers et al., 2021)

12. A cross-sectional analysis characterized the utilization of PAs in U.S. emergency departments from 2010 to 2017, noting that PAs see a significant number of patients and contribute to the overall efficiency of emergency care services (Wu & Darracq, 2020)

13. The research "Trends in Primary Care Provision to Medicare Beneficiaries by Physicians, Nurse Practitioners, or Physician Assistants: 2008-2014" documented the temporal trends in primary care models where physicians, nurse practitioners, or physician assistants engaged in care provision. It examined the role of these models in serving elders with multiple chronic conditions and those residing in rural and health professional shortage areas, signaling a shift towards bolstering the capacity of the primary care delivery system to serve the elderly population (Xue et al., 2017)

Additional Citations:

1. Patel, S. Y., Auerbach, D., Huskamp, H. A., Frakt, A., Neprash, H., Barnett, M. L., et al. (2023). Provision of evaluation and management visits by nurse practitioners and physician assistants in the USA from 2013 to 2019: Cross-sectional time series study. BMJ, 382, e073933. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2022-073933

2. McMichael, B. J. (2023). Supply-side health policy: The impact of scope-of-practice laws on mortality. Journal of Public Economics, 222, 104901. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2023.104901

3. Hooker, R. S., & Cawley, J. F. (2022). Physician Associates/Assistants in Primary Care: Policy and Value. Journal of Ambulatory Care Management, 45(4), 279-288. https://doi.org/10.1097/JAC.0000000000000426

4. McGrath, B. A., Saltzman, J., Cardin, T., & Callender, B. (2021). Modernizing the PA and NP workforce: Lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants, 34(8), 1-3. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.JAA.0000753924.93183.ed

5. Tapper, E. B., Hao, S., Lin, M., Mafi, J. N., McCurdy, H., Parikh, N. D., & Lok, A. S. (2020). The Quality and Outcomes of Care Provided to Patients with Cirrhosis by Advanced Practice Providers. Hepatology, 71(1), 225-234. https://doi.org/10.1002/hep.30695