Employing PAs and NPs in Urgent Care Can Save on Payroll—But for How Long?

The growing authority—and employment—of physician assistants and nurse practitioners in many practice settings demonstrates the practical need for high-level clinicians who cost less to employ than physicians. You can engage more of them than you can physicians, per dollar. That helps the operation run more smoothly without breaking the bank, theoretically. As PAs and NPs, known collectively as advanced-practice providers (APPs), grow in stature, however, a movement is afoot to free them from the bonds of physician oversite. We’ve brought you stories of states passing laws that “emancipate” APPs from supervising physicians, enabling them to practice independently; some are opening their own urgent care centers, in fact. Military-trained PAs, for example, often have emergency room-equivalent experience with trauma and procedures, which makes them especially well suited to the range of patients presenting to urgent care. All at a lower cost than a physician.  The realized savings in payroll may not be as great as it is now for long, though. With the growing primary care physician shortage making utilization of APPs more necessary all the time, competition is heating up to engage them. The National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants announced recently that certified PAs earned an average salary of $110,567 in 2018—up from an average of $107,718 in 2017 and nearly 16% over the past 6  years. While they won’t be catching up to physicians anytime soon, understand that it may be necessary to plan accordingly when forecasting HR costs down the road.