A comparison of the practice patterns of emergency department teams that include physicians, nurse practitioners, or physician assistants

Ellen T Kurtzman; Burt S Barnow; Aakanksha Deoli

doi:10.1016/j.outlook.2023.102062

A comparison of the practice patterns of emergency department teams that include physicians, nurse practitioners, or physician assistants

Nurs Outlook. 2023 Nov-Dec;71(6):102062. doi: 10.1016/j.outlook.2023.102062. Epub 2023 Oct 20.

Authors

Ellen T Kurtzman¹, Burt S Barnow², Aakanksha Deoli³

Affiliations

¹ Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ. Electronic address: ellen.kurtzman@rutgers.edu.
² Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration, The George Washington University, Washington, DC.
³ Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ.

PMID: 37866300
DOI: 10.1016/j.outlook.2023.102062

Abstract

Background: Physicians see most emergency department (ED) patients, but, recently, nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) have provided an increasing amount of ED care.

Purpose: Compare NP and PA teams' practice patterns to physician teams in EDs.

Methods: Using 12 years of data from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (2009-2020), we used multivariate regression analysis to separately examine the associations between the ED practice patterns (i.e., number of diagnostic services, number of procedures, waiting time, boarding time, length of visit, and hospital admission) of patients seen by NP or PA teams compared with physician teams.

Discussion: Patient visits to NP and PA teams received fewer diagnostic services and procedures, had shorter visits, and were less likely to be hospitalized.

Conclusion: If the additional diagnostic services, procedures, and hospital admission provided by physician teams were unnecessary for the patients studied, NP and PA team care could be more efficient.

Keywords: Advanced practice nursing; Emergency services; Health services; Health workforce; Hospital; Nurse practitioners; Research.

MeSH terms

Emergency Service, Hospital
Health Care Surveys
Humans
Nurse Practitioners*
Physician Assistants*
Physicians*
Practice Patterns, Physicians'
United States