Physician members of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine have voiced concerns about the use of advanced practice providers (APPs) in the emergency department and their push for independent practice without the supervision or even availability of a physician. The task force spent hours discussing the issues, comparing the education of physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and board-certified emergency physicians, speaking to physicians about their concerns, and examining the literature. (J Emerg Med 2004;26[3]:279; Acad Emerg Med 2002;9[12]:1452; J Emerg Med 1999;17[3]:427; Acad Emerg Med 1998;5[3]:247; Ann Emerg Med 1992;21[5]:528.)
Most emergency physicians have worked with APPs and appreciate that they are talented clinicians who improve emergency department flow, efficiency, and quality of care under the guidance of the emergency physician-led team. Many emergency physicians are aware of situations that place APPs in clinical environments that are beyond their capabilities, level of training, and even scope of practice. This is not the quality of care our emergency patients deserve.
There is a vast difference in the clinical training of APPs compared with EPs. Some APP training programs require only 500 hours of unregulated, supervised clinical experience before graduating, while physicians must complete approximately 4,000 hours of clinical experience during medical school and an additional 8500 hours of highly regulated and supervised training as an emergency medicine resident before entering independent clinical practice. (J Emerg Med 2015;48[4]:474.) APPs do have a valuable role in many emergency departments, but their skills should be used as part of a team led by an ABEM/AOBEM emergency physician. APPs as members of that team should fill a role clearly defined by the emergency physicians in that department which professionally stimulates the APP and results in quality care. The cost of employment is lower for APPs than for EPs. As increasing patient volume drives increased need for coverage, the potential for increased profits grows if APPs replace EPs. The delivery of safe, expert physician-led care to every patient must be the primary factor when making staffing decisions, not profit.
The physicians staffing an emergency department are best capable of determining the needs of their department. Physicians should not be told by management that they must use APPs who have been hired for them. Rather, they should decide how many APPs they need and hire only those candidates who have the expertise and personality to mesh well with the culture of their emergency department team.
We are aware of situations where EPs are expected to supervise three, four, or even five APPs while simultaneously seeing patients primarily. The reality of those situations is often that the EP has only a cursory knowledge of the patients that the APP sees and little or no time to evaluate those patients independently. If defined patients and scenarios are deemed safe for the patient to be seen by the APP with the supervising physician providing only guidance and backup, then a bill should not be sent in the physician’s name. We support meaningful patient care by the physicians who are billing for it and transparency to patients. A signature in medicine implies that the signatory attests to the accuracy of the document. Without direct evaluation of the patient, how can one know the accuracy of the document?
Emergency medicine residency is a time for physicians to learn how to practice their profession. Residents should be trained by those who practice the profession in which they are seeking board certification. In a situation where APPs are practicing alongside EM residents, it is imperative to establish processes so that the training of the EM residents is not compromised. Residents need to complete a certain number of procedures to become competent. Attaining these skills should be a priority, and the residents should be the first priority to perform a procedure to become independently skilled.
It is challenging, if not impossible, for a patient to determine the role of all the people with whom they interact in the emergency department. Patients can easily be misled by non-physicians using the term doctor. They should not be expected to understand the difference between an MD or DO and a DNP or DScPAS (doctorate of science in PA studies). Patients deserve full transparency about who is caring for them, and non-physician clinicians must truthfully represent their level of training.
Throughout its history, AAEM has consistently asserted that ABEM/AOBEM certification is essential. The academy has also spoken against emergency departments staffed by non-ABEM/AOBEM physicians. Supporting the independent practice of APPs in our emergency departments is inconsistent with these core values. If APP independent practice is tolerated, a logical profit-driven next step is staffing entire emergency departments with APPs and even developing staffing companies to provide that coverage.
Our specialty owes its identity to our founders who demonstrated that the skills required to manage an emergency department expertly were unique in the house of medicine. They struggled to establish the specialty of emergency medicine and define the training required to become a specialist in emergency medicine. The independent practice of APPs has the potential to undermine all the efforts of those men and women who created the specialty of emergency medicine.
©2019 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. This article first appeared in Emergency Medicine News, and is reprinted with permission. www.em-news.com.
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