Certified Physician Assistants: 10 Myths vs. Facts

Slideshow

Many physicians still don't fully understand how PAs work in today's evolving healthcare landscape. Here's some facts to clear up the confusion.

As a certified physician assistant (PA-C) who has practiced over 20 years, I am often surprised by the many fallacies that exist, even among physicians, about who physician assistants are, what we can do, where we practice and how we can improve practice operations and profitability.There are many myths about PAs - the most prevalent being that PAs are the same as nurse practitioners (NPs). Read on to understand fact versus fiction regarding this and other PA myths.
• For more on the Medical Economics article regarding malpractice suits, click here. James Cannon, PA-C, DHA, MBA, DFAAPA, is the past chair of the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants. He also holds a Certificate of Added Qualifications (CAQ) in psychiatry. He can be contacted at jcannon@nccpa.net.

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