Dec. 12, 2020

Proponents of independent non-physician practice make a dangerous assumption

"Most Americans have remained dangerously unaware of this revolution in health care. Being treated by a non-physician is not on the radar of the average patient, most of whom assume that anyone in a white coat is a physician. If patients do wonder...

"Most Americans have remained dangerously unaware of this revolution in health care. Being treated by a non-physician is not on the radar of the average patient, most of whom assume that anyone in a white coat is a physician. If patients do wonder about being treated by a non-physician, they are reassured that their nurse practitioner or physician assistant is “just as good” as a doctor, an idea reinforced by multi-million-dollar direct-to-patient advertising campaigns. But is care by nurse practitioners and physician assistants really as good as that of physicians?"

Rebekah Bernard is a family physician. She is the co-author of Patients at Risk: The Rise of the Nurse Practitioner and Physician Assistant in Healthcare. (https://amzn.to/2UIhL9H)

She shares her story and discusses the article that she co-authored, "Proponents of independent non-physician practice make a dangerous assumption." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/11/proponents-of-independent-non-physician-practice-make-a-dangerous-assumption.html)

This episode is sponsored by Elsevier Health (https://www.us.elsevierhealth.com/). Looking to update your personal or professional medical library? Shop Elsevier Health’s Holiday Sale and save up to 35% on your purchase of medical books! Plus, you can take an extra 5% off your order with code KEVINMD at checkout. Take advantage of the biggest sale of the year from Elsevier, the world-leading provider of medical books and reference materials. Shop us.elsevierhealth.com now through December 31.