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[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]A December 2013 survey from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) included nurse practitioners and physician assistants on its list of fastest growing occupations. The BLS projects that between 2012 and 2022 nurse practitioner and physician assistant jobs will grow 31% and 38% respectively. The increased growth is in response to the physician shortage.
The American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) estimates they number in excess of 189,000 NPs practicing in the U.S—double the number practicing in 2003. They also estimate another 14,000 NPs completed their training in 2011-2012. The American Academy of Physician Assistants estimates that more than 95,000 physician assistants are working in the U.S. There are predictions that the physician assistant workforce will grow 72% between 2010 and 2015.
If your strategy is to hire a nurse practitioner or physician assistant to work at your concierge medical practice in lieu of another physician, you may not be too happy when you hear their terms and conditions of employment. The market is in their favor now and will be for years to come. and many nurse practitioners are already starting to hang their own independent concierge medicine shingle if the number of calls to our firm for startup assistance is any indication.
If you are in your 50s plan to work longer and later in life too. The same BLS report states that “Due to the aging baby-boom generation,workers ages 55 and older are expected to make up over one-quarter of the labor force in 2022.”
One place where we will see a change in labor requirements and staffing will be in the practices that adopt m-health technologies and are able to offer mobile health visits in lieu of office visits at a billable rate paid by insurers and government payers, and self-funded employers. Expect that the technology will add 45-55 minutes back into your practice and give you time for approximately 3-4 additional remunerated visits per day in the concierge setting.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
