Have you noticed that nurse practitioners and physician assistants are becoming more and more prevalent in local primary care practices?
According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, there’s a scarcity of primary care physicians in the United States. This shortage is especially critical here in the Lowcountry where we’ve experienced rapid population growth in the past several years.
Recognizing the increasing need for access to medical providers, more and more practices are turning to advanced practice providers — which includes both nurse practitioners, like Allison Vigil, MSN, FNP-BC, and physician assistants — to fill the gulf between the demand for health care and the supply of doctors.
As Vigil's profession has become more visible, she has found that patients are increasingly curious about the training, services and role that nurse practitioners play in urgent, primary and even specialty care settings.
Both nurse practitioners (N.P.s) and physician assistants (P.A.s) receive advanced training to perform a wide range of preventive and acute medical services and are required to pass a rigorous medical exam to be licensed. The scope of practice allows these advanced practice providers to diagnose and treat common health problems, order and interpret imaging tests and lab work, prescribe medication, and manage chronic health issues such as diabetes, high blood pressure and asthma.
Read More: Where Do I Go For Care?
While under the supervision of a doctor, N.P.s and P.A.s usually have their own panel of patients, and always have the option to consult or refer complex cases to their supervising physician or a specialist. This team approach improves access to health care for our community.
Last year the South Carolina state legislature passed a bill, authored by Beaufort County’s state senator Tom Davis, allowing nurse practitioners to provide additional services within our communities.
“In order to truly improve access to health care, there must be an increase in the supply of providers,” Davis told his colleagues in the legislature. “These nurses hold at least a master’s degree in nursing, supplemented with advanced education and clinical training to autonomously assess, diagnose and manage a patient’s health care at the primary care level.”
He also pointed to studies that show the quality, efficiency, patient satisfaction and cost-effectiveness of advanced practice nurses’ care is often similar to the care provided by doctors. Vigil, who sees patients at the Beaufort and Bluffton Express Care clinics adds that the same can be said of her physician assistant colleagues.
Additionally, those in need of care can often get in to see a P.A. or N.P. quickly — and having these advance practice providers available to treat routine issues allows the doctors more time to focus on complex cases. All this translates to better service and outcomes for patients.
Need to get care quickly?
You have several options:
- Have a BMH Care Anywhere video doctor visit using your smart phone, tablet or computer.
- Use the Walk-In Care kiosk at Lowcountry Publix pharmacies to connect with a BMH Care Anywhere provider.
- Visit an Express Care clinic (stop in to be seen on a first-come-first-served basis or use our online check-in to set an appointment.).
This article first appeared in the Bluffton Sun.