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The role of PAs in the future health workforce
JAAPA, 08/17/09

Dehn RW – As health care provider shortages appear on the horizon, questions persist as to how the PA profession fits into the future health care workforce.

Patients who saw PAs were similar to those who saw physicians except that patients of PAs were more likely to be rural. Some small differences found between the groups disappeared over the 8–year period. Analysis of data is preliminary and ongoing. Findings from this study may alter prevailing assumptions regarding the types of patients attended by PAs.
Larger portions of PA than physician patients live in rural and remote areas and in counties with lower practitioner densities. Patients of PAs have a slightly higher socioeconomic status. Analysis of data is preliminary and ongoing. This comparison of PA and physician office–based practice indicates that PAs are more likely than physicians to care for underserved patients. On measures that emphasize socioeconomic status, physicians were more likely than PAs to care for underserved patients. This could be explained by a tendency of physicians to care for the urban poor.
Demand models were constructed utilizing no growth in supply, 10% growth in supply, and 25% growth in supply. In all three models, demand for PAs exceeded supply; therefore utilizing this model, even a 25% growth in PA supply would be inadequate to address future workforce demand for PAs.