JAAPA : official journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants
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Comparative Study
Patient care by physician assistants and by physicians in an emergency department.
Decreasing health care dollars have resulted in increased utilization of so-called midlevel practitioners. We compared emergency physicians with emergency department physician assistants (PAs) to determine whether PAs are an appropriate option for providing services rendered by physicians in this setting. ⋯ Despite a few large differences in some diagnostic groups, the two types of provider had, overall, small but clinically insignificant differences in length of visit and total charges. The magnitude of difference in length of visit and total charges strongly suggests that PAs, when compared with physicians, are a viable staffing option in an urgent care facility.
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Comparative Study
A rural-urban comparison of patterns of physician assistant practice.
Access to primary care continues to be a concern in rural areas. The deficit of primary care providers in rural environments has the potential to increase the role of physician assistants (PAs) in the system of rural health care delivery. Little is known about the conditions, sites, and patterns of practice of PAs and their distribution in Pennsylvania, the state with the largest rural population. ⋯ Experience with managed care is greater for urban PAs. A rural PA is more likely than an urban PA to practice in an underserved area. For both rural and urban PAs who practice primary care, significant differences were noted in their willingness to practice in a rural underserved area, compared to PAs who do not practice primary care.