One-fourth of health visits in the United States are delivered by non-physician providers, according to a study published Sept. 14 in the BMJ.
The study, which analyzed 276 million visits between January 2013 and December 2019, found that the proportion of visits delivered in a year by non-physicians such as nurse practitioners or physician assistants rose from 14 to 26 percent.
This increase aligns with the growing number of people becoming advanced practice providers. The study cited data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimating that between 2019 and 2032, the number of nurse practitioners will increase by 80 percent, while the number of physician assistants will increase by 48 percent.