The PA Hospitalist: A Review of Recent Literature

Background: The PA profession has evolved to the point where PAs are increasingly found in specialty areas of medicine. One of the newer specialties to accept physician assistants into its ranks is the hospitalist profession. Moreover, when the ACGME implemented work hour restrictions on residents, hospitals sought to fill the vacuum with mid-level providers. Very little research has evaluated the efficacy of the PA in this new role, and how the PA compares professionally with the tradition hospital house staff. This paper reviews some of the few studies that examine this issue. Methods: Exhaustive search of available medical literature using Medline, CINAHL, and Web of Science for key words “physician assistant” and “hospitalist. ” Results: Data from three studies reviews mortality rates, cost of care, length of stay, patient satisfaction, readmission within 30 days and adverse events of PA hospitalists versus traditional house staff. No significant differences were found. Conclusion: On the surface, there is no data to suggest inferiority of PA hospitalist care compared with residents or tradition inpatient general medical staff, but because the data is so scant, further study is needed. Degree Type Capstone Project Rights Terms of use for work posted in CommonKnowledge. This capstone project is available at CommonKnowledge: http://commons.pacificu.edu/pa/223 Copyright and terms of use If you have downloaded this document directly from the web or from CommonKnowledge, see the “Rights” section on the previous page for the terms of use. If you have received this document through an interlibrary loan/document delivery service, the following terms of use apply: Copyright in this work is held by the author(s). You may download or print any portion of this document for personal use only, or for any use that is allowed by fair use (Title 17, §107 U.S.C.). Except for personal or fair use, you or your borrowing library may not reproduce, remix, republish, post, transmit, or distribute this document, or any portion thereof, without the permission of the copyright owner. [Note: If this document is licensed under a Creative Commons license (see “Rights” on the previous page) which allows broader usage rights, your use is governed by the terms of that license. ] Inquiries regarding further use of these materials should be addressed to: CommonKnowledge Rights, Pacific University Library, 2043 College Way, Forest Grove, OR 97116, (503) 352-7209. Email inquiries may be directed to:. copyright@pacificu.edu This capstone project is available at CommonKnowledge: http://commons.pacificu.edu/pa/223 NOTICE TO READERS This work is not a peer-reviewed publication. The Master’s Candidate author of this work has made every effort to provide accurate information and to rely on authoritative sources in the completion of this work. However, neither the author nor the faculty advisor(s) warrants the completeness, accuracy or usefulness of the information provided in this work. This work should not be considered authoritative or comprehensive in and of itself and the author and advisor(s) disclaim all responsibility for the results obtained from use of the information contained in this work. Knowledge and practice change constantly, and readers are advised to confirm the information found in this work with other more current and/or comprehensive sources. The student author attests that this work is completely his/her original authorship and that no material in this work has been plagiarized, fabricated or incorrectly attributed.