As 2021 rolls out, one thing is becoming clear: the anti-PA rhetoric is becoming louder & louder by the minute as seen in the American Medical Association (AMA) public campaign back in November 2020, entitled “ #stop scope creep... because patient safety isn’t a game”. Shortly after, ACEP ( The American College of Emergency Physicians), and AFPPA ( The American Family Practice Physicians Association sister physician groups are the last two physician communities to go public supporting this hypocritical agenda. These Physician groups positions are morally bankrupt since their campaigns essentially seeks to stall or halt the evolutionary progression of the scope of practice of Advanced Practice Providers, mainly, Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants, Nurse Midwives and CRNAs. They have not only benefited from our utilization easing the workload of their members, but also being reimbursed financially in most cases by our care services rendered to the patient population.
Personally, do no profession owns a monopoly. Moreover, Healthcare nowadays is clearly a team effort, and all members of the team play a vital part in the care of the patient. In my opinion, most advanced practice providers are not seeking to replace the physician, nor are anti-physicians’ per se, but rather being true physician extenders in increasing access to millions of people every year. And yes, I/we can assure the medical community as well as the patient community we know our role as well as our limitations. Sadly, but surely, there will always be cavalier advanced practice providers out there, but then again they are also seen in many other healthcare professions too including the physician community as well.
The position of the AMA, Physicians for patient protection and the authors of the book Patients at Risk postulate that patients deserve care led by physicians --- the most highly educated trained and skilled medical healthcare professional. I / we, the advanced practice providers Community do not disagree with this premise nor deny it.
However, what I/we object and disagree is their disingenuous hypocritical fear-mongering stance & campaign of misinformation to the American Healthcare consumer. They basically seem to build their argument on untruthful statements ( skewed out of context data ) about the safety of the health care services provided by us and other APPs.
This fomented inter-professional divisiveness of curtailing the modernization of PA practice at the legislative level should be viewed and considered a significant intrusion into our own affairs, thus limiting healthcare access to our fellow Americans in an already tough fragmented healthcare industry. But make no mistake about this, right now is a critical time which we shall all come together & put these turf battles to rest. Now is the time to openly chastise those who place inter-professional political ideologies or differences above the common good of the American people.
As a group of healthcare professionals, we should & need to stop disenfranchising or demonizing Healthcare Kindred professions. It's time for them to stop seeking to score political points with partisan lobbying allies by marketing disinformation to the general public. Quite frankly in my view, this hypocritical industry practice model is very short-sighted, professionally abhorrent if not unconscionably venomous and utterly disingenuous.
