With the continued rise in healthcare costs which most of us are tired of hearing about could future events in cost mitigation and cost avoidance lead to an endangerment for current and future MDs? Specifically will hospitals and other healthcare organizations look to fill their provider needs with more mid-level providers such as advance practice nurses and physician assistants (PAC) and forego the costly salaries and malpractice insurance premiums of fully fledged MDs?
Several rural healthcare systems already utilize many mid-level providers as primary care deliverers in a variety of settings. For instance several hospitals in Vermont as well as other rural regions use emergency department trained PACs to deliver most of the emergency care in small community hospitals. These places do have MDs as well but much of the care that is provided to include trauma management is done by PACs, and the cost of providing the care is less.
In terms of payroll expenses clearly less expense is incurred with mid-level providers than with MDs. That being said, the argument from the MD side will revolve around the level of patient safety and the significant differences in training that MDs and PACs go through. Obviously there will always be a market for MDs, however I would speculate that the future of healthcare will be changing to incorporate more mid-level providers as primary care givers and have a select number of MDs for oversight and resource. The current fiscal problems with healthcare may even open the way for mid-level providers to specialize in areas where typically MDs are only found today. Can mid-level providers supplement our current MD population in a way to help mitigate healthcare costs?
With the continued rise in healthcare costs which most of us are tired of hearing about could future events in cost mitigation and cost avoidance lead to an endangerment for current and future MDs? Specifically will hospitals and other healthcare organizations look to fill their provider needs with more mid-level providers such as advance practice nurses and physician assistants (PAC) and forego the costly salaries and malpractice insurance premiums of fully fledged MDs?
Several rural healthcare systems already utilize many mid-level providers as primary care deliverers in a variety of settings. For instance several hospitals in Vermont as well as other rural regions use emergency department trained PACs to deliver most of the emergency care in small community hospitals. These places do have MDs as well but much of the care that is provided to include trauma management is done by PACs, and the cost of providing the care is less.
In terms of payroll expenses clearly less expense is incurred with mid-level providers than with MDs. That being said, the argument from the MD side will revolve around the level of patient safety and the significant differences in training that MDs and PACs go through. Obviously there will always be a market for MDs, however I would speculate that the future of healthcare will be changing to incorporate more mid-level providers as primary care givers and have a select number of MDs for oversight and resource. The current fiscal problems with healthcare may even open the way for mid-level providers to specialize in areas where typically MDs are only found today. Can mid-level providers supplement our current MD population in a way to help mitigate healthcare costs?