More emergency departments are employing mid-level providers like nurse practitioners and physician assistants to assist with fast-track cases.
This doctor runs the numbers, and finds that in his hospital’s case, mid-levels add about $100 an hour, 16 hours a day, 365 days a year.
It comes with a price however, in the form of potential increased liability. “My name is at the bottom of thousands of charts of patients I never saw,” says the physician blogging at Ten out of Ten, “and that still makes me somewhat uncomfortable to be honest.”
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{ 2 comments }
In this day and age of the lawsuit, I certainly can understand why this MD has a concern. As long as the hospital keeps the midlevels within scope, it does really benefit all parties involved. As a PA student, I am certainly glad I chose this path if not for all the debt, but the cost of malpractice and liability.
I think the practice of using Midlevels in Fast Track is a plus but have a billing question perhaps someone can answer.
My Hospital the PA’s see the patients triaged to Fast Track and in their dictation name the “Supervising Physician” who is the on duty doc on the other side of the dept who only sees the patient when requested, which is rare. The PA gets $50 per hour and some sort of productivity bonus if they qualify. The patient is billed for a ED visit under the Supervising Physicians number and pays the same rate as if they were seen by the Physician both for ED and Physician charges. Can someone answer this question, Is there not a Face to Face requirement to bill under the Physicians number when seen by the PA? It sounds fishy to me and the message I get is dont go there.
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