Concerned that unsupervised nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) provide patient care that is not as good or safe as that provided by physicians, the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates voted Tuesday to fund independent studies that compare outcomes.
"Legislators continue to hear claims from NP and PA advocacy groups that studies say they are just as good or better than physicians," said Rebekah Bernard, MD, of Fort Myers, Florida.
"We know these studies are referring to patients that are being seen for low conditions, for simple problems and always involve physician oversight," added Bernard, who was representing the Florida delegation, which introduced the proposal with delegations from Texas and Oklahoma. "But legislators are not hearing these caveats. We need rigorous, independent data on the safety, efficacy, and cost of unsupervised NPs and PAs, and we need it urgently."
Speakers said state regulatory agencies need data based on science in order to set scope-of-practice rules.
Several delegates said they've been referred to see patients who were previously inappropriately treated by mid-level providers.
