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Cost Effective Physician Assistants – History and Facts

The Chair of the Department of Medicine at Duke University Medical Center established a program in 1965 to educate ex-military corpsmen to practice medicine (with physician supervision). The purpose was to serve North Carolina communities with limited access to medical care. The program was based in part on his experience with the fast-track training of doctors during World War II. There were 3 graduates from the first program in 1967.

Today there are 140 programs training 12,000 students with 4,600 graduating each year. More than 85,000 Physician Assistants (PAs) are eligible to practice in the United States. In the early years, PAs were predominantly male but currently 65% are female and 35% are male.

Where do PAs Work?
Over 43% of PAs work in group or solo physician practices, 38% work in hospitals, 8% work in rural clinics or community health centers, and 10% work in other settings.

Most PAs work in primary care medicine (26% in Family/General Medicine, 16% in General Internal Medicine and subspecialties, and 4% in General Pediatrics and pediatric subspecialties). However, 25% of PAs work in General Surgery and surgical subspecialties and 11% work in Emergency Medicine. A small percentage of PAs work in OB/GYN (2%) and Occupational Medicine (2%).

Is it Cost Effective to Hire a PA?
Yes! On average, PAs generate revenues 80% greater than what their compensation costs employers. Recent compensation surveys reveal that for every dollar of charges a PA generates for the practice, the employer pays, on average, just 30 cents to employ a PA!

Boosting Patient Satisfaction and Easing Physician Workloads
With a PA on staff, patient waiting times decrease, improving patient satisfaction through increased access to healthcare. PAs improve patient flow by freeing up physicians to manage more complex or demanding cases. An American Medical Association (AMA) survey found that PAs enhance practice efficiency and solo physicians who employ PAs experience expanded practices, greater efficiency and greater access to care for their patients.

For more information regarding PAs and PA recruitment, please contact us.