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As healthcare providers, PAs continue to face challenging times. The pandemic exacerbated an already strained healthcare system now facing greater workforce shortages, clinician burnout, and increases in chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity, depression, anxiety, and substance use disorder. And a recent Supreme Court decision puts at risk healthcare decision-making between patients and clinicians, and threatens the privacy of this important relationship.

Despite this disruption and uncertainty in the healthcare ecosystem, one thing remains constant—PAs are critical to providing vital healthcare to patients everywhere. Meeting patients where they are isn't just a saying for PAs—it's how we deliver healthcare. More than half a century ago, the PA profession was created out of a critical need to improve and expand healthcare at a time when there was a shortage of primary care physicians. Today, patients are once again facing a critical healthcare provider shortage. The need for PAs has never been greater.

Today, more than 159,000 PAs with more than 500 million patient visits annually are expanding access to care despite the growing healthcare workforce shortage. The workforce provider shortage is a critical problem that must be addressed quickly as our aging population continues to grow. The population of people age 65 years and older is projected to reach 80.8 million by 2040.1 This challenge is compounded by the growing number of patients with preexisting conditions, such as obesity, diabetes, and mental illnesses. These are particularly alarming data points, exacerbated by the fact that 95 million Americans lack adequate access to primary care, and more than 152 million Americans lack adequate access to mental health care.2 Without modern, integrated, team-based healthcare—where every member of the team is practicing to the full extent of their education and training—the US healthcare system will simply not be able the meet the demands of patients.

The PA profession is one of the fastest-growing professions in the country. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that PA employment will grow by 31% between 2020 and 2030, much faster than the average for all other occupations.3 And for the fifth year in a row, US News & World Report listed the PA profession as one of the top two healthcare jobs in the country.4

PAs are committed to patient-centered care, recognizing that every patient is unique and deserves tailored care to meet their specific healthcare needs.

The quality of care PAs provide was the subject of a first-of-its-kind, large-scale research project in 2021 that looked at 39 different studies completed between 1977 and 2021 in North America, Europe, and Africa.5 The results confirmed what PAs have known since the profession formed in the 1960s—the quality of care and commitment to patients is undeniable.

Of the 39 studies researchers assessed, 18 found the quality of care delivered by PAs exceeded that of a physician; and in 15 studies, the quality of care delivered by PAs was comparable to that of a physician. PA care was also found to cost less than physician-delivered care in 29 of the 39 studies examined.5

PAs are in a unique position to care for patients, often being one of the first medical providers a patient encounters. The broad training PAs receive allows them to provide holistic treatment to patients, serving an important role in being able to recognize, diagnose, and address medical conditions.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shed a light on just how fragile the healthcare system is in the United States, and how important PAs are in ensuring high-quality care for patients. It is time to remove burdensome and unnecessary laws that restrict healthcare providers from providing the quality care they've been educated and trained to deliver.

PAs must encourage their local, state, and federal lawmakers to support legislation that moves healthcare forward, not backwards; to end the antiquated legal requirement for PAs to have a specific relationship with a physician so that PAs can practice to the full extent of their education, training, and experience.

By removing these unnecessary restrictions, PAs will be better able to address the growing access to care issues in this country, especially in rural and medically underserved communities. To date, only three states—North Dakota, Utah and Wyoming—have voted to remove this barrier. That must change.

Research and decades of work have proven that PAs provide high-quality and effective care. It is past time for healthcare systems, as well as lawmakers, to take action to ensure the quality of care PAs provide is more accessible to every patient in need.

1. Administration for Community Living. Projected future growth of older population. https://acl.gov/aging-and-disability-in-america/data-and-research/projected-future-growth-older-population. Accessed June 29, 2022. 2. US Health Resources and Services Administration. Shortage areas. https://data.hrsa.gov/topics/health-workforce/shortage-areas. Accessed June 29, 2022. 3. US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Outlook Handbook. Physician assistants. www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/physician-assistants.htm. Accessed June 29, 2022. 5. van den Brink GTWJ, Hooker RS, Van Vught AJ, et al. The cost-effectiveness of physician assistants/associates: a systematic review of international evidence. PLoS One. 2021;16(11):e0259183.