WCRI: Trend of Nonphysicians Treating Workers Speeds Up Care

Advanced-care practitioners treated injured workers in 37% of nonemergency visits for evaluation and management, more than double the 18% reported in 2013, according to the Workers Compensation Research Institute. The institute has been studying the rise of advanced-care practitioners working with injured employees, a trend that experts have said is the result of physician shortages, especially in rural areas. Such professionals are not doctors and are typically licensed as nurse practitioners or physician assistants. In most states, they can treat patients and prescribe medications...