By 5) PAs can’t see new patients or perform consultations.
This isn’t true. In fact, in rural and underserved areas, physician assistants are incredibly valuable as a way to provide necessary medical care at a lower cost.
6) PAs want to be independent from physicians.
Physician assistants function as part of a collaborative healthcare team, working alongside physicians, nurses, and other workers to provide comprehensive patient care. In recent years, changes in state laws have expanded the autonomy of PAs, and the result has been that patients in those states have had better access to medical care. With a physician available for consultation and mentoring, a PA can provide treatment for acute and chronic conditions without direct oversight.
7) PAs don’t add value.
As part of a collaborative healthcare team, physician assistants can help improve patients’ access to quality care. In the past, implementing a PA program has been shown to improve healthcare outcomes, as measured by a decrease in the number of hospital readmissions. In one example, a physician assistant home care (PAHC) program was created to provide house calls to postoperative cardiac surgery patients. Over 26 months, readmission rates were significantly lower for the PAHC group than for the control group. The PAs in the program were primarily providing medication adjustments, administering wound care, and ordering imaging studies as needed.
8) PAs are expensive to hire because of their supervision requirements and high salaries.
Physician assistants can actually help reduce the overall costs of healthcare, both for the hospital or medical practice and for the patients. Adding PAs, as well as NPs, to the primary care team can improve efficiency and quality of care.
9) PAs cannot practice in specialties.
Although many physician assistants provide primary care, especially in rural or underserved areas where people might not otherwise have access, physician assistants can practice in any specialty. There are PAs who specialize in dermatology, pediatric neurology, oncology, and almost anything else you can think of. Dermatology, urgent care, and surgery are becoming popular choices as PA specialties.
10) Hiring a PA is a legal risk.
Because a physician assistant doesn’t have as much graduate training as the physician themselves, it’s often assumed that hiring a PA increases the risk of malpractice lawsuits. However, in an extensive series of case studies in Medical Economics in 2011, it was found that physicians were actually sued more often than PAs. When PAs were involved in litigation, it was for the same reasons as physicians, and direct supervision by a doctor did not appear to decrease the risk of a malpractice lawsuit.
Physician Assistants: A Valuable Member of Collaborative Medical Teams
Physician assistants, who hold a graduate degree, can be a vital addition to any collaborative medical team. Their scope of practice often includes most, though not all, of what a physician is certified to do. This gives them a unique role that can be used to expand access to medical care — especially basic primary care — for underserved populations. There are a lot of misconceptions about what PAs actually do, but their importance in medicine is continuing to grow.
