Cross-sectional analysis of US scope of practice laws and employed physician assistants.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

This study examined if the variation in physician assistant (PA) state scope of practice (SOP) laws across states are associated with number of employed PAs, PA demographics and PA/population ratio per state. The hypothesis was that less restrictive SOP laws will increase the demand for PAs and the number of PAs in a state.

Design

Retrospective cross-sectional analysis at three time points: 1998, 2008, 2017.

Setting

Fifty states and the District of Columbia.

Participants

Employed PAs in 1998, 2008, 2017.

Methods

SOP laws were categorised as permissive, average and restrictive. Three national datasets were combined to allow for descriptive analysis of employed PAs by year and SOP categories. We used linear predictive models to generate and compa

SUBMITTER: Valentin VL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8118013 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature