The United States (U.S.) is facing a significant deficit of physicians and rheumatology is subject to workforce challenges. Currently, in many areas in the U.S., persons with rheumatic disease face prolonged wait times and experience significant travel distances to a rheumatologist. Nurse Practitioners (NPs) and Physician Assistants (PAs), valuable members of the healthcare team, are utilized by about 25% of rheumatology practices. The 2015 ACR Workforce Study sought to expand current knowledge of the rheumatology workforce which included NP/Pas. The article concludes that recruitment and training strategies to increase the number of rheumatology NP/PAs to augment the workforce and improve access-to-care should be explored.
This article is not available from the Academy Library’s collection. If you would like us to request it from another library, please call 0161 291 5778 or email the UHSM Academy Library