Tag: advanced practitioners

New App Connects Patients with Advanced Practitioners, RNs via Text

A new app is taking aim at the telehealth space–not to diagnose, but to triage–and advanced practitioners and RNs are the ones on call.

A new startup has taken aim at the telehealth space. However, unlike other apps, the focus is to connect patients with physician assistants and nurse practitioners, as well as registered nurses, instead of physicians. The app, which offers a 24/7 chat-based model, also aims not to diagnose or prescribe, but to triage and inform.

Developed in the Harvard Innovation Lab and launched earlier this month, Nurse-1-1 is designed to offer patients a better and more reliable resource than being left to their own devices, such as Googling symptoms, to determine whether or not they should seek medical attention. It is HIPPA-compliant and encrypted, and offers patients a low-cost model of $12.50 per chat, with or without insurance—which is undoubtedly cheaper than a wasted co-pay, if medical attention isn’t deemed advisable.

To use the service, patients only need to download the app, answer some simple questions, and then they are paired with either a physician assistant, nurse practitioner, or registered nurse, who can triage their situation through photos and information shared via the chat.

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

The Public Is Clearly Confused about PAs and NPs

As the primary care physician shortage looms, and PAs and NPs are constantly called “the answer,” it seems patients are unaware of what they can even do.

Advanced practitioners, particularly PAs and NPs, are often cited as the answer to the looming primary care physician shortage—an estimated deficiency of 49,300 primary care physicians in the U.S. by 2030, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. However, it appears there is a large amount of public confusion when it comes to the roles of PAs and NPs in primary care, according to a new study, which is to be published next month in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

For the study, members of the U.S. public in all 50 states were surveyed between November 2017 and January 2018. Participants were asked questions regarding their knowledge of the abilities of physicians, PAs, and NPs to prescribe medications, diagnose illnesses, and order lab tests.

Of the 3,948 respondents, an undisputable majority knew physicians were able to prescribe medications, diagnose illnesses, and order lab tests. However, they were much less well-informed when it came to PAs and NPs. About half were unaware that PAs could prescribe and diagnose, and nearly a third did not know NPs could, and while a higher percentage were aware that PAs and NPs could order lab tests (66% for PAs, 74% for NPs), it was nowhere near the 97% who were aware of physicians’ ability to do the same.

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.