While the supply of physicians is diminishing, the demand for medical services is increasing and the physicians who remain in practice are overburdened. Advanced Practice Professionals (“APPs”) such as Physician Assistants and Nurse Practitioners can be the key to filling the gap for hospitals by taking on expanded roles and responsibilities. Many states have turned to APPs as a solution to hospital and private practice staffing by expanding their scope of practice to include explicit permission to practice independently after a designated period of supervision and to perform certain procedures that weren’t previously in their scope of practice. The areas of practice for APPs have also expanded greatly moving from primary care to almost every specialty in medicine. Along with this evolution, there continue to be many questions about how to reasonably and responsibly integrate APPs into the delivery of care in hospitals and into the functions of the Medical Staff. During this audioconference we will discuss a variety of privileging and peer review issues with respect to APPs, including how to confirm clinical competence when APPs change their area of practice and supervision and collaboration. We also cover several ancillary topics on APPs, including those related to EMTALA and liability. In addition, we will explore options to integrate APPs into the Medical Staff functions.  
 

Topics include: 
If your state is considering allowing APPs to practice independently, what does that mean for your hospital? 

 APP utilization within the acute care hospital: EMTALA, on-call, rounding and progress notes, countersignatures, and more! 

APPs are specializing – and switching specialties – at an increasing rate. How can hospitals address these credentialing challenges? Is “on the job training” a sufficient method for verifying current clinical competence for privileging purposes? 

Role of the supervising/collaborating physician. 

Incorporating APPs in the Medical Staff functions.

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