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Observational Study
. 2021 Aug 21;22(5):1150-1155.
doi: 10.5811/westjem.2021.5.51988.

Comparing Physician Assistant and Nurse Practitioner Practice in U.S. Emergency Departments, 2010-2017

Fred Wu  1 , Michael A Darracq  1
Affiliations
Observational Study

Comparing Physician Assistant and Nurse Practitioner Practice in U.S. Emergency Departments, 2010-2017

Fred Wu et al. West J Emerg Med. .

Abstract

Introduction: We sought to compare physician assistant (PA) and nurse practitioner (NP) practice in United States emergency departments (ED) based on ED visits as reported by the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS).

Methods: We performed a retrospective, secondary analysis of the 2010 to 2017 NHAMCS with analysis of ED visits, patient demographics, and hospital characteristics.

Results: Between 2010 to 2017, 21.0% (95% confidence interval, [CI] +/-3.1%) of ED visits were seen by either a PA/NP (with and without physician involvement) and 8.6% (+/-2.9%) were seen by PA/NP alone. We identified an increase for NP visits between 2014-2016 and found that PA/NP visits share many of the same characteristics.

Conclusion: While emergency medicine has predominately been a specialty for PAs, the number of ED visits with NPs has been increasing over the past several years. While there are some differences, PAs/NPs share many similar practice characteristics in the ED.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: By the WestJEM article submission agreement, all authors are required to disclose all affiliations, funding sources and financial or management relationships that could be perceived as potential sources of bias. No author has professional or financial relationships with any companies that are relevant to this study. There are no conflicts of interest or sources of funding to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Percentage of US emergency department visits seen by physician assistants (PA) or nurse practitioners (NP), 2010–2017. Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals for annual estimates; PA or NP visits include with and without physician involvement.
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