The Impact of the Physician Assistant in Modern Health Care - Research Paper Example

? The impact of the Physician Assistant in Modern Health Care Summary One of the most important sectors in the economy of any country is the healthcare sector. In this regard, a country should ensure that the healthcare system served all the citizens, which is the responsibility of the government. Therefore, quality in the healthcare system, affordability of healthcare, and availability are the most fundamental aspects in the healthcare system. However, the cost of healthcare has rapidly increased in recent times, and it is becoming less affordable to a number of people. Nevertheless, physician assistants provide affordable healthcare to the public. Physician assistants, or PAs, should primarily act as assistants to a doctor. Nevertheless, some states in the country overlook this factor and allow PAs to operate alone insofar as they fulfilled the other basic requirements of certification. While the first program for PAs started in1965, the government’s role in the programs was only in the 1970s when it instituted legislation meant to regulate the operations of PAs. Thus, the pioneers were medics from the military although most PAs are currently women. Nevertheless, the program has developed overtime with PAs said to offer 80% quality healthcare in comparison to medical doctors. With the development of this concept of PAs, there are some notable positive impacts to the modern medicine. One such impact is the availability of healthcare to a larger population, which would be impossible in an environment where there were no PAs. In this case, most PAs operate in areas where the doctors cannot reach. Thus, a larger population of the country has access to healthcare brought to their neighborhoods by the PAs. Secondly, PAs offer cost effective treatment and quality care. In this case, the cost of healthcare is cheaper due to the services provided by the PAs who ensure a healthy nation. Finally, PAs ensure that doctors concentrated on cases that required extra attention due to their complexity in nature. The impact of the Physician Assistant in Modern Health Care In life, not every professional can handle all of his or her workload. In effect, it is important to have assistants in various professions who can help and relief some of the workload. The medical profession is not an exception. In this regard, the doctors cannot perform all the roles of treatment and continue to provide care to their patients. Most fundamentally, doctors require nurses, who provide a supportive role during treatment and the process of care. Furthermore, doctors also need other various personnel in their profession in order for them to perform their duties effectively. One such example of these personnel is physician assistants, commonly known as PAs. By their very own definition, the physician assistant is a title given to personnel in the medical profession who perform a portion of the roles performed by the traditional physician. In this regard, a PA’s role is under the supervision of a physician, and they cannot take the complicated cases, which is the responsibility of the traditional physician. Despite the role of the PA being a relatively young role in the medical profession, this role has grown overtime and has become an essential component in modern healthcare system. While physician assistants training programs traces their origin to the 1960s, the government started developing an interest in the program in the 1970s and developed standards for training and certification (Vorvick, 2011). In this regard, President Nixon noted the need for assistants in the medical profession while addressing the congress and observed that: One of the most promising ways to expand the supply of medical care and to reduce its costs is through a greater use of allied health personnel, especially those who work as physician’s and dentist’s assistants, nurse pediatric practitioners, and nurse midwives. Such persons are trained to perform tasks which must otherwise be performed by doctors themselves, even though they do not require the skills of the doctor. Such assistance frees a physician to focus skills where they are most needed and often allows him to treat more additional patients. (as cited in Zeckhauser & Eliastam, 1974, p. 95). In this regard, the fundamental reason for establishing the position of the physician assistant was to reach more patients by providing them with treatment and necessary care. According to Vorvick (2011), most PA programs require a minimum of two years in college experience. In addition, Vorvick (2011) further noted that applicants required “some experience in the health care setting, such as an emergency medical technician, ambulance attendant, health educator, licensed practical nurse, or associate-degree nurse.” In this regard, a physician training will encompass the fundamentals in the healthcare system. Conversely, it is important to point out that the first students to enroll in PA programs were medics from the military with men dominating the profession. However, more women have currently enrolled in the program with women constituting 58% of the current PAs population (Vorvick, 2011). In effect, more people have gained the ability to provide service previously offered by doctors with studies indicating that PAs offered about 80% of healthcare quality in comparison to the quality of care offered by doctors (Vorvick, 2011). Currently, PAs practice in various medical settings and may specialize in medical and surgical specialties. However, most practice in primary areas of care including family practice while the rest practice in areas of general surgery, emergency medicine, and surgery specialties (Vorvick, 2011). Furthermore, it is highly possible to find PAs in areas of research and other nonclinical roles such as administration and teaching. In this regard, this emphasizes the evolving of the role that the PAs play in modern day healthcare system. On the hand, licensing and certification are two ways to regulate the PA practice in the contemporary society. In this regard, all states laws require certification from the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants and the operation of PAs under their supervising doctors (Vorvick, 2011). In effect, this ensures that only certified PAs join the professional and work to provide treatment and care to the public. The development of physician assistants has had a positive impact to modern medicine and healthcare system. One such positive impact is making the burden of the traditional doctor less by providing primary care. During the debate of the 1970s that meant to define the role of the PAs, Dr. William Schwartz noted, “many of the physician’s tasks now considered sacrosanct might well be taken care over by non-physicians” (as cited in Zeckhauser & Eliastam, 1974, p. 99). In this regard, the PAs supplement the role played by the traditional physicians and offer services to patients, which was the role of the traditional physician. Therefore, the doctors will concentrate their skills and knowledge to more complicated medical cases in an effective way. In effect, the entire healthcare system benefits by having more practitioners working towards the health of a nation. According to Vorvick (2011), “About 30% of PAs practice in areas that have less than 50,000 people.” In this regard, PAs operate both in urban and rural areas while providing care to the general population. Thus, PAs will be able to take healthcare to areas that medical doctors have not reached. Such areas include the rural areas and urban areas like inner cities, which medical doctors may avoid due to various like security and the financial burden. In effect, PAs play an essential role in ensuring progress in the distribution of healthcare amongst the general population, which is unreachable by a doctor. A study by Greenfield, Komaroff, Pass, Anderson, and Nessim (1978), found out that physicians offered cost-effective healthcare without compromising on the quality. In this regard, this is important in an environment whereby the cost of healthcare has been on an upward trend and unaffordable to some members of the public. In effect, the PAs bring the cost of healthcare down since they earn lower salaries than doctors earn and are able to see more patients in comparison to doctors. Clark et al. (2000) support this view and observe that PAs may “have a positive impact on the problem of having to see more patients for less money.” Thus, PAs play an essential role of providing affordable healthcare to a larger population, which will not be possible in instances where there were no physician assistants. In conclusion, it is evident that the concept of physician assistants has developed overtime. In this case, the nature of this concept in healthcare has evolved from military medics forming the first group of recruits to the PA program to women forming the biggest number of physician assistants. In this case, the regulation by state governments and the federal government has enhanced the growth of physician assistants. Consequently, the growth and development of physician assistants has had positive benefits on modern medical and healthcare systems. Hence, healthcare has become largely affordable and available to populations that could not afford healthcare in the past. In addition, PAs role is crucial to provide doctors with time to provide care in cases that were more complicated. References Clark, A. R., Monroe, J. R., Feldman, S. R., Fleischer, A. B., Hauser, D. A., & Hinds M. A. (2000). The emerging role of physician assistants in the delivery of dermatologic health care [Abstract]. Dermatology Clinics, 28(2), 297-302. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10791156 Greenfield, S., Komaroff, A. L., Pass T. M., Anderson H., & Nessim, S. (1978). Efficiency and cost of primary care by nurses and physician assistants [Abstract]. New England Journal of Medicine 298(6), 305-309. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23495 Vorvick, L. J. (2011). Physician Assistant Profession (PA): History of the Profession. National Institute of Health [NIH]. Retrieved from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001935.htm Zeckhauser, R., & Eliastam, M. (1974). The Productivity Potential of the Physician Assistant The Journal of Human Resources, 9(1), 95-116. Read More