scholarly journals Board-Certified Oncology Pharmacists: Their Potential Contribution to Reducing a Shortfall in Oncology Patient Visits

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. e359-e368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Ignoffo ◽  
Katherine Knapp ◽  
Mitchell Barnett ◽  
Sally Yowell Barbour ◽  
Steve D’Amato ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Cancer Treatment ◽  
Patient Care ◽  
Nurse Practitioners ◽  
Physician Assistants ◽  
Delphi Panel ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Oncology Patient ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Number Of Patients

Purpose: With an aging US population, the number of patients who need cancer treatment will increase significantly by 2020. On the basis of a predicted shortage of oncology physicians, nonphysician health care practitioners will need to fill the shortfall in oncology patient visits, and nurse practitioners and physician assistants have already been identified for this purpose. This study proposes that appropriately trained oncology pharmacists can also contribute. The purpose of this study is to estimate the supply of Board of Pharmacy Specialties–certified oncology pharmacists (BCOPs) and their potential contribution to the care of patients with cancer through 2020. Methods: Data regarding accredited oncology pharmacy residencies, new BCOPs, and total BCOPs were used to estimate oncology residencies, new BCOPs, and total BCOPs through 2020. A Delphi panel process was used to estimate patient visits, identify patient care services that BCOPs could provide, and study limitations. Results: By 2020, there will be an estimated 3,639 BCOPs, and approximately 62% of BCOPs will have completed accredited oncology pharmacy residencies. Delphi panelists came to consensus (at least 80% agreement) on eight patient care services that BCOPs could provide. Although the estimates given by our model indicate that BCOPs could provide 5 to 7 million 30-minute patient visits annually, sensitivity analysis, based on factors that could reduce potential visit availability resulted in 2.5 to 3.5 million visits by 2020 with the addition of BCOPs to the health care team. Conclusion: BCOPs can contribute to a projected shortfall in needed patient visits for cancer treatment. BCOPs, along with nurse practitioners and physician assistants could substantially reduce, but likely not eliminate, the shortfall of providers needed for oncology patient visits.

scholarly journals Understanding the Role of Advanced Practice Providers in Oncology in the United States

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. e518-e532 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suanna S. Bruinooge ◽  
Todd A. Pickard ◽  
Wendy Vogel ◽  
Amy Hanley ◽  
Caroline Schenkel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Patient Care ◽  
Nurse Practitioners ◽  
Clinical Care ◽  
Gynecologic Oncology ◽  
Physician Assistants ◽  
The United States ◽  
Direct Patient Care ◽  
Advanced Practice ◽  
Patient Counseling ◽  
Number Of Patients

Purpose: Advanced practice providers (APPs, which include nurse practitioners [NPs] and physician assistants [PAs]) are integral members of oncology teams. This study aims first to identify all oncology APPs and, second, to understand personal and practice characteristics (including compensation) of those APPs. Methods: We identified APPs who practice oncology from membership and claims data. We surveyed 3,055 APPs about their roles in clinical care. Results: We identified at least 5,350 APPs in oncology and an additional 5,400 who might practice oncology. Survey respondents totaled 577, which provided a 19% response rate. Results focused on 540 NPs and PAs. Greater than 90% reported satisfaction with career choice. Respondents identified predominately as white (89%) and female (94%). NPs and PAs spent the majority (80%) of time in direct patient care. The top four patient care activities were patient counseling (NPs, 94%; PAs, 98%), prescribing (NPs, 93%; PAs, 97%), treatment management (NPs, 89%; PAs, 93%), and follow-up visits (NPs, 81%; PAs, 86%). A majority of all APPs reported both independent and shared visits (65% hematology/oncology/survivorship/prevention/pediatric hematology/oncology; 85% surgical/gynecologic oncology; 78% radiation oncology). A minority of APPs reported that they conducted only shared visits. Average annual compensation was between $113,000 and $115,000, which is approximately $10,000 higher than average pay for nononcology APPs. Conclusion: We identified 5,350 oncology APPs and conclude that number may be as high as 7,000. Survey results suggest that practices that incorporate APPs routinely rely on them for patient care. Given the increasing number of patients with and survivors of cancer, APPs are important to ensure access to quality cancer care now and in the future.

Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants: Do They Have a Role in Your Practice?

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 96 (4) ◽  
pp. 844-850
Author(s):  
Elsa L. Stone
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Nurse Practitioners ◽  
Health Care Services ◽  
Current Trend ◽  
Work Force ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Physician Assistants ◽  
Quality Health Care ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Quality Health

During the next decade, pediatricians will confront the difficult challenge of providing quality health care services to more children with more diverse and difficult problems, and they will have little or no additional funding to accomplish this task. Despite earlier predictions of surpluses in the pediatric work force, there are now shortages that will worsen if the current trend persists. Pediatric nurse practitioners (PNPs) and some physician assistants are being trained to perform health supervision care and to diagnose and treat the common illnesses of children. Substantial evidence suggests that PNPs provide quality health care services, and that collaborative teams of pediatricians and PNPs can provide high-quality, cost-effective care to a broader spectrum of children than can be served by either professional alone.

scholarly journals The impact on patient flow after the integration of nurse practitioners and physician assistants in 6 Ontario emergency departments

CJEM ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 11 (05) ◽  
pp. 455-461 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Ducharme ◽  
Robert J. Alder ◽  
Cindy Pelletier ◽  
Don Murray ◽  
Joshua Tepper
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Nurse Practitioners ◽  
Emergency Departments ◽  
Patient Flow ◽  
Physician Assistants ◽  
Wait Times ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Lengths Of Stay ◽  
Left Without Being Seen ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACT Objective: We sought to assess the impact of the integration of the new roles of primary health care nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) on patient flow, wait times and proportions of patients who left without being seen in 6 Ontario emergency departments (EDs). Methods: We performed a retrospective review of health records data on patient arrival time, time of initial assessment by a physician, time of discharge from the ED and discharge status. Results: Whether a PA or NP was directly involved in the care of patients or indirectly involved by being on duty, the wait times, lengths of stay and proportion of patients who left without being seen were significantly reduced. When a PA or NP were directly involved in patients' care, patients were 1.6 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.3–2.1, p < 0.05) and 2.1 (95% CI 1.6–2.8, p < 0.05) times more likely to be seen within the wait time benchmarks, respectively. Lengths of stay were 30.3% (95% CI 21.6%–39.0%, p < 0.01) and 48.8% (95% CI 35.0%–62.7%, p < 0.01) lower when PAs and NPs, respectively, were involved. When PAs and NPs were not on duty, the proportion of patients who left without being seen were 44% (95% CI 31%–63%, p < 0.01) and 71% (95% CI 53%–96%, p < 0.05), respectively. Conclusion: The addition of PAs or NPs to the ED team can improve patient flow in medium-sized community hospital EDs. Given the ongoing shortage of physicians, use of alternative health care providers should be considered. These results require validation, as their generalizability to other locations or types of EDs is not known.

Evaluation of Health Care Services Provided in Political Public Meetings in Turkey: A Forgotten Detail in Politics

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 607-613
Author(s):  
Mehmet Ali Ceyhan ◽  
Gültekin Günhan Demir ◽  
Gamze Babur Güler
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Health Care Services ◽  
Heat Index ◽  
Election Campaign ◽  
Medical Conditions ◽  
Public Meetings ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Number Of Patients ◽  
The Impact

AbstractBackgroundPolitical parties in Turkey execute political public meetings (PPMs) during their election campaign for members of the parliament (MoP). A great number of people attend these meetings. No guidelines exist regarding preparation and organization of health care services provided during these meetings. Furthermore, there is no study evaluating health care problems encountered in previous PPMs.ObjectivePolitical parties arranged PPMs in 2015 during the election campaign for general election of MoP. The present study aimed to investigate the context of health care services, the distribution of assigned health staff, as well as the number and the symptoms of patients admitted in health care tents in these PPMs.MethodsTwo general elections for MoP were done in Turkey on June 7, 2015 and November 1, 2015. Health care services were provided by the City Emergency Medical Services Department (CEMSD) in the cities. Demographic characteristics, symptoms, comorbid conditions, treatment, discharge, and hospital transfer of the patients were obtained from patient medical registration records. Information about the distribution and the number of the assigned staff was received from local CEMSDs. The impact of variables such as the number of attendees, heat index, humidity, and the day of the week on the number of patients and the patient presentation rate (PPR) were analyzed.ResultsA total of 97 PPMs were analyzed. The number of total attendees was 5,265,450 people. The number of patients seeking medical help was 1,991. The PPR was 0.5 (0.23-0.91) patients per 1,000 attendees. Mean age of the patients was 40 (SD=19) years old while 1,174 (58.9%) of the patients were female. A total of 1,579 patients were treated in the tents and returned to the PPM following treatment. Two-hundred and three patients were transferred to a hospital by ambulance. Transfer-to-hospital ratio (TTHR) was 0.05 (0.0-0.13) patients per 1,000 attendees. None of the patients suffered sudden cardiac death (SCD) or cardiac arrest. Medical conditions were the main cause for admission. The most common symptoms were dizziness, low blood pressure, fatigue, and hypertension, respectively. The most commonly used medical agents included pain killers and myorelaxants. The number of attendees, heat index, and weekend days were positively correlated with the number of the patients.Conclusion: The majority of medical conditions encountered in PPMs are easily treatable in health care tents settled in the meeting area. The number of attendees, heat index, and weekend days are factors associated with the number of patients.CeyhanMA, DemirGG, GülerGB. Evaluation of health care services provided in political public meetings in Turkey: a forgotten detail in politics. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2018;33(6):607–613.

scholarly journals A Retrospective Analysis of Provider-to-Patient Secure Messages: How Much Are They Increasing, Who Is Doing the Work, and Is the Work Happening After Hours? (Preprint)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick North ◽  
Kristine E Luhman ◽  
Eric A Mallmann ◽  
Toby J Mallmann ◽  
Sidna M Tulledge-Scheitel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Nurse Practitioners ◽  
Physician Assistants ◽  
Care Physician ◽  
Work Hours ◽  
Patient Portal ◽  
Secure Messaging ◽  
After Hours ◽  
Over Time

BACKGROUND Patient portal registration and the use of secure messaging are increasing. However, little is known about how the work of responding to and initiating patient messages is distributed among care team members and how these messages may affect work after hours. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to examine the growth of secure messages and determine how the work of provider responses to patient-initiated secure messages and provider-initiated secure messages is distributed across care teams and across work and after-work hours. METHODS We collected secure messages sent from providers from January 1, 2013, to March 15, 2018, at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, both in response to patient secure messages and provider-initiated secure messages. We examined counts of messages over time, how the work of responding to messages and initiating messages was distributed among health care workers, messages sent per provider, messages per unique patient, and when the work was completed (proportion of messages sent after standard work hours). RESULTS Portal registration for patients having clinic visits increased from 33% to 62%, and increasingly more patients and providers were engaged in messaging. Provider message responses to individual patients increased significantly in both primary care and specialty practices. Message responses per specialty physician provider increased from 15 responses per provider per year to 53 responses per provider per year from 2013 to 2018, resulting in a 253% increase. Primary care physician message responses increased from 153 per provider per year to 322 from 2013 to 2018, resulting in a 110% increase. Physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and registered nurses, all contributed to the substantial increases in the number of messages sent. CONCLUSIONS Provider-sent secure messages at a large health care institution have increased substantially since implementation of secure messaging between patients and providers. The effort of responding to and initiating messages to patients was distributed across multiple provider categories. The percentage of message responses occurring after hours showed little substantial change over time compared with the overall increase in message volume.

scholarly journals An activity analysis of Dutch hospital-based physician assistants and nurse practitioners

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
G. T. W. J. van den Brink ◽  
A. J. Kouwen ◽  
R. S. Hooker ◽  
H. Vermeulen ◽  
M. G. H. Laurant
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Patient Care ◽  
Nurse Practitioners ◽  
Hospital Management ◽  
Physician Assistants ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Direct Patient Care ◽  
Patient Scheduling ◽  
Dutch Hospital ◽  
Medical Specialties

Abstract Background The physician assistant (PA) and the nurse practitioner (NP) were introduced into The Netherlands in 2001 and 1997 respectively. By the second decade, national policies had accelerated the acceptance and development of these professions. Since 2015, the PA and NP have full practice authority as independent health professionals. The aim of this research was to gain a better understanding of the tasks and responsibilities that are being shifted from Medical Doctors (MD) to PAs and NPs in hospitals. More specifically in what context and visibility are these tasks undertaken by hospital-based PAs and NPs in patient care. This will enable them to communicate their worth to the hospital management. Study design A descriptive, non-experimental research method design was used to collect and analyze both quantitative and qualitative data about the type of tasks performed by a PA or NP. Fifteen medical departments across four hospitals participated. Methods The patient scheduling system and hospital information system were probed to identify and characterize a wide variety of clinical tasks. The array of tasks was further verified by 108 interviews. All tasks were divided into direct and indirect patient care. Once the tasks were cataloged, then MDs and hospital managers graded the PA- or NP-performed tasks and assessed their contributions to the hospital management system. Findings In total, 2883 tasks were assessed. Overall, PAs and NPs performed a wide variety of clinical and administrative tasks, which differed across hospitals and medical specialties. Data from interviews and the hospital management systems revealed that over a third of the tasks were not properly registered or attributed to the PA or NP. After correction, it was found that the NP and PA spent more than two thirds of their working time on direct patient care. Conclusions NPs and PAs performed a wide variety of clinical tasks, and the consistency of these tasks differed per medical specialty. Despite the fact that a large part of the tasks was not visible due to incorrect administration, the interviews with MDs and managers revealed that the use of an NP or PA was considered to have an added value at the quality of care as well to the production for hospital-based medical care in The Netherlands.

Health Care Services in Shopping Centers: A Routine Mass-Gathering Event

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 669-675
Author(s):  
Mehmet Ali Ceyhan ◽  
Gültekin Günhan Demir
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Medical Care ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Health Care Services ◽  
Shopping Centers ◽  
Medical Conditions ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Number Of Patients ◽  
Number Of Customers

AbstractBackground:Shopping centers (SCs) are social areas with a group of commercial establishments which attract customers of numerous people every day. However, analysis of urgent health conditions and provided health care in SCs has not been performed so far.Objective:The aim of the study was to perform a comparative analysis of clients visiting SCs and demographics, complaints, and health care of patients admitted to Emergency Medical Intervention Units (EMIU) located in grand SCs in Ankara, Turkey.Methods:Customer and health care records of nine grand SCs in Ankara from January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2018 were evaluated retrospectively. Health care services in EMIUs of SCs were provided by employed medical staff. Data including demographic characteristics, complaints, treatment protocols, discharge, and referral to hospital of the patients were retrospectively analyzed from medical registration forms.Results:Medical records of nine grand SCs were analyzed. Number of customers could not be obtained in three SCs due to privacy issues and were not included in patient presentation rate (PPR) and transport-to-hospital rate (TTHR) calculation. Total number of customers in the remaining six SCs were 53,277,239. The total number of patients seeking medical care was 6,749. The number of patients seeking health care in six SCs with known number of customers was 4,498 and PPR ranged from 0.018 to 0.381 patients per 1,000 attendants. The median age of the recorded 4,065 patients (60.2%) was 28 (interquartile range [IQR]: 38-21), and 3,611 (53.5%) of the patients admitted to EMIUs were female. The number of patients treated in the SC was 4,634 (68.6%) and 189 patients (2.8%) were transferred-to-hospital by ambulance for further evaluation and treatment. Transportation to hospital was required in 125 patients who sought medical care in six SCs which provided total number of customers, and TTHR ranged from 0.000 to 0.005 patients per 1,000 attendants. No sudden cardiac death was seen. Medical conditions were the primary reasons for seeking health care. The most frequent causes of presentation were laceration and abrasions (639 patients, 9.4%).Conclusion:The PPR and TTHR in SCs are low. The most common causes of presentation are minor conditions and injuries. Majority of urgent medical conditions in SCs can be managed by health care providers in EMIUs.

Efficient and Effective Models for Integrating Advanced Practice Professionals into Oncology Practice

2013 ◽  
pp. e377-e379
Author(s):  
Lawrence N. Shulman
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Nurse Practitioners ◽  
Physician Assistants ◽  
Models Of Care ◽  
Advanced Practice ◽  
Practice Style ◽  
Oncology Care ◽  
Oncology Practice ◽  
Effective Models

Advanced practice professionals (APP), primarily nurse practitioners and physician assistants, are increasingly being integrated into oncology practices. The reasons are numerous, and models of care options are numerous as well. Models of care have developed without much forethought and are often the result of the relative interests of the physician, the APP, and the mutual “comfort” of practice style. The increasing complexity of oncology care, the pressures of the health care crisis and health care reform mean that it is necessary that we examine models of collaborative care in terms of both quality of care and productivity.

scholarly journals Quality Improvement in Athletic Health Care

2017 ◽  
Vol 52 (11) ◽  
pp. 1070-1078 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea D. Lopes Sauers ◽  
Eric L. Sauers ◽  
Alison R. Snyder Valier
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Quality Improvement ◽  
Patient Care ◽  
Athletic Training ◽  
Athletic Trainers ◽  
Patient Centered ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Historical Perspectives ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Training Services

Context:  Quality improvement (QI) is a health care concept that ensures patients receive high-quality (safe, timely, effective, efficient, equitable, patient-centered) and affordable care. Despite its importance, the application of QI in athletic health care has been limited. Objectives:  To describe the need for and define QI in health care, to describe how to measure quality in health care, and to present a QI case in athletic training. Description:  As the athletic training profession continues to grow, a widespread engagement in QI efforts is necessary to establish the value of athletic training services for the patients that we serve. A review of the importance of QI in health care, historical perspectives of QI, tools to drive QI efforts, and examples of common QI initiatives is presented to assist clinicians in better understanding the value of QI for advancing athletic health care and the profession. Clinical and Research Advantages:  By engaging clinicians in strategies to measure outcomes and improve their patient care services, QI practice can help athletic trainers provide high-quality and affordable care to patients.

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