During your visit to a primary care office, urgent care, or ER, you may have been treated by a healthcare provider who isn’t a physician. This provider, often an Advanced Practice Provider (APP), works closely with physicians to ensure you receive seamless, high-quality care as part of a collaborative medical team.
Who are advanced practice providers?
APPs are medical professionals such as Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants, that must pass national board certification exams and obtain state licensure. APPs like physicians, must continue their education throughout their medical careers and achieve board recertification.
Depending on their specialty APPs spend their time assessing and diagnosing patients, developing treatment plans, prescribing medications, ordering and interpreting laboratory and radiographic tests, and educating patients on their condition and treatment.
How do APPs complement the work of physicians?
A team-based care approach means the APP, led by the physician, will work together with the common goal of providing the safest and best possible care to patients. For routine, acute care and follow-up visits, any changes to your health discussed with an APP, along with test results or scans, will be recorded in your medical record and your PCP or specialist can review it at any time.
As the leader of the care team, your physician will direct your treatment plan. The physician is always available should their advanced expertise be required.
What are the benefits of APP visits for patient care?
-APPs are medical experts, who have completed years of studying and training to practice medicine. They are qualified and equipped to provide quality primary or specialty care (depending on their training) to diagnose, treat, and manage conditions or illnesses. Their abilities are especially important to broaden the number of providers on your care team and increase accessibility.
-APPs provide convenient, timely care- They often have same-day or next-day appointment scheduling options.
-APPs improve accessibility to the care you need. If you have a chronic or complex condition, you are likely to have frequent follow-up visits with your PCP or Specialist. Follow-up visits are perfect for a team-based care approach. APPs work with their physicians to implement the care plan so patients can get the assessment and medication they need to manage their condition well.
It takes a team to make sure that patients get the quality and timely care they deserve. At Central Ohio Primary Care, we constantly strive to be the best for our patients, which is why we value each APP's commitment to delivering compassionate, quality, and personalized care. We are proud to have APPs serving patients in our primary care, specialty practices, and hospitalist teams.
Sources:
https://health.osu.edu/health/general-health/what-is-an-advanced-practice-provider
https://www.summithealth.com/health-wellness/advanced-practice-providers-what-do-they-do
https://premierhealth.com/healthcare-professionals/advanced-practice-providers/requirements