Physicians For Patient Protection Sounds The Alarm On Patient Safety Risks In Non-Physician Led Care

The non-profit organization is advocating for patient safety amid concerns over nurse practitioner training and patient outcomes

NEW YORK, July 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Since 2018, Physicians for Patient Protection, a non-profit ensuring physician-led care for all patients, has been vocal about the risks of replacing physicians with non-physician practitioners, especially considering the declining state of nurse practitioner (NP) education in the United States.

Despite sharing stories of patient harm and data showing the lower quality and increased cost of care of physician replacements, the non-profit organization has been disappointed by the lack of attention in this important patient safety issue. Doctors advocating to ensure that patients have access to physician-led care have been mischaracterized as misogynistic and elitist, often by those profiting from NP education and practice, in an attempt to drown out the real stories of patient injuries. Disregarding the abysmal shortcomings of the research methodology, "half a century of research" regarding NP care was, and continues to be, falsely and deceptively presented as dogmatic truth.

"We believe that patients deserve access to physician-led care and have the right to understand who is providing their care," said Carmen Kavali, MD, President of Physicians for Patient Protection. "The work that Physicians for Patient Protection is doing is an important step in educating patients so that they can make informed decisions about their healthcare. We look forward to more attention on this important subject."

In the last 25 years, the number of nurse practitioners has quadrupled, growing from 80,000 in 2000 to over 380,000 today, while the number of physicians has increased by just 3%. Standards for nurse practitioner program entry and training quality have declined, with 69% of all family nurse practitioner students attending completely or mostly online training, and 22% attending direct entry programs, which allows non-nurses to become nurse practitioners in as few as 15 months.

Despite having about 5% of the training of physicians, nurse practitioners are legally allowed to care for patients without physician supervision in half the states of the country and in all Veterans Administration facilities. Studies show that nurse practitioner care can be safe and effective when managing lower-risk conditions under physician supervision. However, no conclusive evidence exists that non-physician practitioners can provide safe and effective medical care without physician oversight. Recent studies have shown the opposite: that the replacement of physicians puts patients at risk for worse outcomes at higher costs.

Physicians for Patient Protection has an extensive network of experts on this topic including physicians, patients, attorneys, nurses, and other clinicians available for comment on this subject. To learn about the organization's advocacy work, please visit www.physiciansforpatientprotection.org.

About Physicians for Patient Protection (PPP)
Physicians for Patient Protection is a 501c3 organization. Our mission is to ensure physician-led care for all patients and to advocate for truth and transparency regarding healthcare practitioners. Learn more at www.physiciansforpatientprotection.org.

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SOURCE Physicians For Patient Protection