Engaging nurse practitioners and physician assistants to improve patient care and drive productivity in a radiology consult practice at a comprehensive cancer center.

BACKGROUND: The demand for health care in the United States is increasing because of an aging population and an increase in the number of individuals insured. This has led to requests to revamp the primary care infrastructure fundamentally. LOCAL PROBLEM: The optimal use of nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) is still a subject of debate, but recently, it was reported that for many medical conditions, NP and PA-managed care outcomes are consistent with physician-managed care outcomes. METHODS: Radiologists' productivity was measured according to relative value units (RVUs)/shift and professional billing changes. Patient care metrics measured were prescribed protocol to patient appointment lead time and number of same-day prescribed imaging protocol changes. INTERVENTIONS: The focus was on radiologists' productivity and patient care for three months before and three months after integrating NP and PA into our abdominal radiology consult service. RESULTS: We observed significant increases in the mean RVUs/shift (15.2 ± 0.9 vs. 6.2 ± 1.8; p = .02), studies read per shift (10.1 ± 0.5 vs. 4.4 ± 1.5; p = .003), revenue per shift hour ($756.20 ± 55.40 vs. $335.40 ± 32.60; p = .007), and protocol prescription to patient appointment lead time (39.3 ± 6.7 days vs. 16.3 ± 2.9 days; p = .005) and saw significant decreases in the mean prescribed CT (19.3 ± 0.6 vs. 3.3 ± 0.6; p = .001) and MRI (11.7 ± 0.6 vs. 8.30 ± 0.12; p = .011) same day protocol changes in NP and PA integrated workflow. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that NP and PA can be effectively integrated into the abdominal radiology consult service, increasing radiologists' productivity and enhancing clinical care.