Physician assistants and nurse practitioners perform effective roles on teams caring for Medicare patients with diabetes.

ABSTRACT: One approach to the patient-centered medical home, particularly for patients with chronic illnesses, is to include physician assistants (PAs) and nurse practitioners (NPs) on primary care teams. Using Medicare claims and electronic health record data from a large physician group, we compared outcomes for two groups of adult Medicare patients with diabetes whose conditions were at various levels of complexity: those whose care teams included PAs or NPs in various roles, and those who received care from physicians only. Outcomes were generally equivalent in thirteen comparisons. In four comparisons, outcomes were superior for the patients receiving care from PAs or NPs, but in three other comparisons the outcomes were superior for patients receiving care from physicians only. Specific roles

SUBMITTER: Everett C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3909681 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature