However, according to a Graham Center Policy One-Pager published in American Family Physician, a growing number of NPs and PAs choose to work outside of primary care. Therefore, there may not be enough midlevel providers to supplement the physician shortage.
According to the report, just 52.4 percent of the nation’s NPs and 43.2 percent of PAs are in primary care.
“Relying on NPs and PAs to solve the problem of a growing shortage of primary care physicians may not be an option, and policymakers should not abandon policy solutions designed to increase the number of primary care physicians, NPs and PAs,” the report concluded.
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