NCCPA shines light on physician assistants as National PA Week draws near

JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — With National PA Week just around the corner in early October, the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants is looking to help educate consumers about the important role that physician assistants play in making health care more accessible.



The nation’s 100,000 certified physician assistants are treating more than 7 million patients every week in every clinical setting.



With National PA Week set for Oct. 6 to 12, NCCPA wants to help educate consumers about the important role PAs fulfill in making health care more available. Five ways PAs contribute to Americans’ health care are:

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  Expanding access by providing same-day appointments for acute care visits. PAs can offset a physician’s fully-booked schedule by being available to see walk-in patients.


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  Serving as the primary care provider with their own panel of patients. Although PAs collaborate with physicians, many have patients who ask for them by name and a full daily schedule of their own.


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  Providing care in remote and underserved areas. PAs make economic sense for a healthcare system that cannot afford a physician in these areas. PAs allow patients to be cared for in their own communities, avoiding the hardships and cost of travel to major medical centers.


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  Delivering specialty care in every area, including emergency medicine, cardiovascular and thoracic surgery, hospital medicine, orthopaedic surgery, nephrology, psychiatry and pediatrics. Two-thirds of PAs now work in specialties.


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  Performing home visits, particularly with patients who need special attention or monitoring. PAs who are part of a Patient Centered Medical Home often have the opportunity to provide care where it is most convenient.

“We are often the linchpin of health care, providing coordination and continuity of care throughout the patient’s lifetime,” said Dawn Morton-Rias, president and CEO of NCCPA. “A healthy society is a working, productive society, and PAs contribute daily to the quality of health care in America.”



According to the Department of Labor Statistics, the demand for PAs is expected to increase 38% in the next decade as the nation’s healthcare system looks to expand access to more patients, including millions who are newly-insured and aging baby boomers who often have multiple, chronic conditions.