Medical commentary: The nurse practitioner will see you now

The next time you see your doctor, you may be greeted by a nurse practitioner instead. Our medical commentator, Dr. Joseph Sirven explains.

“I’m not abandoning you. You’re getting better care over time because there are two of us working on your case.”

That was my refrain as my patient hit me with this when I saw her: “You had me see that nurse practitioner, but I only want to see you!”

“You are seeing me” I say. “She’s part of my team and she’s excellent. No, she’s not a doctor, but she knows your case and is there to help you.”

Anywhere you look, whether at your local medical clinic or prestigious academic medical center, nurse practitioners and physician assistants are everywhere. The numbers of these health professionals are projected to rise by 30 percent by the year 2025. Seventy percent of nurse practitioners see three or more patients per hour and many of them do so independently.

Both NPs and PAs are highly educated professionals, trained for six-plus years beyond their high school degree. The main difference between these two groups is that nurse practitioners start out with a nursing degree.

Why the increase? There’s a shortage of doctors. The dearth is so large that even a dramatic expansion of the size and number of medical school classes, demand for health services can’t be met fast enough. With a graying U.S. population and a large increase of insured patients under the Affordable Care Act, the healthcare team had to expand.

Because NPs and PAs are trained in shorter time than a physician for less money, health systems are turning to this group for help.

This does not mean physicians will go away; rather we’ll have more healthcare teams with physicians supervising the group. So if the next time you go to your medical visit and see an NP or PA, realize that these professionals are increasing the quality of your healthcare by putting more eyes on your case. Now, that’s a prescription for better health.