Depending upon your viewpoint, the Affordable Care Act (a/k/a Obamacare) can be a good thing. Ideally, it will provide a much needed fix to our nation’s runaway healthcare cost and advance the goal of providing healthcare coverage for our citizens. An alternate opinion may be that government hasn’t fixed many things overall; therefore, it won’t improve the quality of care nor make it less expensive or efficient. The cost, requirements and mandate are hot topics in today’s news and are background to the latest government shut down.
While it’s difficult to predict all the changes the new law will bring or how soon some of those requirements will become the law for all, one thing is certain: Healthcare in the U.S. is undergoing dramatic and permanent change.
Part of that change involves simply meeting the new and increased demand for healthcare with a corresponding supply of medical professionals. The escalation in healthcare demand will be amplified by the aging of our baby boomers and the fact that we are growing older as a nation.
Healthcare of the future will most likely involve teams with the goals of keeping people out of hospitals and limiting time spent with a doctor. It is believed part of the solution will involve the expansion and increased reliance on Physician Assistants (PAs) and Nurse Practitioners (NPs).
Physician Assistants are healthcare professionals who are licensed in all 50 states and the District of Columbia to practice medicine under the supervision of a physician. Physician Assistants conduct physical exams, diagnose and treat acute and chronic illnesses, order and interpret tests, counsel on preventive health care, assist in surgery and write prescriptions.
Nurse Practitioners are healthcare professionals with advanced education and clinical training to diagnose, treat and prevent disease. They are also licensed in all 50 states and the District of Columbia to order, perform and interpret diagnostic tests; diagnose and treat acute and chronic conditions. They also write prescriptions.
Both PAs and NPs have specialties and work with primary care and other physicians (MDs and DOs) as part of a team delivering health care treatment.
This segment of healthcare professionals is expanding and will be further leveraged under the Affordable Care Act. They will be impactful in shaping the future and quality of our nation’s healthcare system.
What does this mean for marketers of pharma companies, device manufacturers, medical suppliers and healthcare companies of all kinds? No time is better than now to tap into this vast market. Crafting messages that capture their attention requires accuracy, personalization and trust. More than 297,000 Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants are available in Redi-Data’s NP/PA database, making it the most comprehensive file in the industry.