A Risk-Benefit Analysis of Physician Assistants

Physician assistants (PAs) can benefit physicians’ practices by performing various medical duties involving care and treatment of patients. However, physicians who supervise PAs can potentially face liability for the acts and/or omissions of these PAs. This article explores the role of PAs, the various types of liability that may occur, and how to minimize the risks associated with such liability.

Why use a physician assistant?
Physician assistants provide a number of benefits to the practices that employ them: they allow such practices to service more patients by performing many of the same functions as a physician; they free up the time of physicians to treat conditions that may be beyond the capabilities and qualifications of PAs; and they can increase patient satisfaction by spending more time with patients, and by seeing patients more quickly.

To learn more about this topic, including what PAs can and can’t do in an office or hospital setting, what types of liability supervising physicians have for their PAs, how supervising physicians can minimize their liability risks regarding PAs, and whether there is professional liability coverage for PAs, click here to access the full article, which starts on page 2.