I’m a sports fan. Well, mostly a college football fan. When you hail from Ohio, it’s hard not to be. O-H-I-O, right? What’s so fascinating about any team sport is how everyone plays a different role and the result is a well-functioning, cohesive team with one goal in mind — winning.
Healthcare is also a team sport. Delivery-of-care takes on many forms, like evaluating and diagnosing, crafting a treatment plan, performing a procedure or implementing orders on the floor. No one person can do it all. It requires a team approach where everyone has a role to play, and success depends on everyone doing their job well. That’s why we have patient care associates, medical assistants, nurses, pharmacists and healthcare providers. Now that’s only a small sampling of the key players involved but for today’s conversation, let’s talk about healthcare providers.
Healthcare provider is the one designation that often creates confusion. A healthcare provider is a licensed individual or organization that delivers medical care, treatment, services, or supplies to patients. On an institutional level it applies to hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, home health entities or other long term care facilities. On the individual level, this includes physicians (MD and DO), nurses, nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs). As you can see, it is a broad term but many physician groups including the American Medical Association, do not like it. Why? Well, most people use the term to collectively refer to physicians, NPs and PAs. By lumping everyone together, some feel as if the term healthcare provider hides the vast differences in education, clinical hours, and legal scopes of practice. In addition, some argue that the term provider is offensive because it commodifies care and makes services more like a product or transaction. Many find it more palatable to use clinician or healthcare professional when trying to be inclusive of physicians, NPs and PAs.
When you visit a healthcare practice, you may see a physician, NP or a PA. You may work with more than one of these professionals over the course of your care. But have you ever wondered why having different types of healthcare professionals can be an advantage? First, different perspectives can strengthen decision-making. Healthcare professionals bring different educational experiences, clinical perspectives and areas of expertise. When they communicate and share their insights, they can approach a patient’s concern from multiple angles. Second, collaboration can improve access to care. Well-designed, team-based care can help practices care for more patients, coordinate appointments and make better use of clinical expertise.
In dermatology, NPs and PAs play an essential role in caring for patients. As you probably know, access to dermatology can be difficult. The wait time in the US to see a dermatologist can vary depending upon geographic location, but can be up to 3 months or more in some areas. By adding NPs and PAs to the dermatologic workforce, it improves access to dermatology services, which is important for progressive chronic skin conditions as well as early detection of skin cancer. And if you’ve ever had a rash with itching that just wouldn’t quit or a concerning lesion–you know how important that access is.
If we go back to football, think of your physician as the quarterback. They lead the healthcare team and may run the ball themselves or pass it to another player. The quarterback is the leader and has a pulse on what’s going on and works collaboratively with NPs and PAs to deliver care. The physician takes on the role to build a team with clear responsibilities, open communication, mutual respect and a shared commitment to patients.
Trotter’s Take: Physicians, NPs, PAs — Different training, shared purpose, one team — and the center of it all, the patient.
Curious about PAs and the role they play in healthcare? Then check out my podcast with Andrew Baker, my PA, as he explains how the role of a PA came to be and where we are today.
