Workload contribution of a physician assistant in an ambulatory care setting

Abstract

To evaluate the workload contribution of a Physician Assistant (PA) in an Ambulatory Care-Walk-in setting the number of patients registered, seen by the PA, and by the Supervising Physician (SP) was used. The simple average was drawn for comparison purposes. Quality of care assessment done by record review of patients seen. The workload contribution of the PA was 10.8%, that of the SP was 11.6%, with a joint contribution of 22.5%. The non supervising physician average was 11.2%. The quality of care assessment showed 100% compliance with the first four, and 93% compliance with the last three criteria. A PA makes an efficient workload contribution in this setting, not endangering the workload contribution of the supervising physician, who is able to maintain a similar workload contribution to that of a non supervising physician.