The Benefits and Challenges of Incorporating Advanced Practice Providers into Radiology

While acknowledging that the roles and training for advanced practice providers (APPs) in radiology are currently ill-defined, Chris Davis, DMSc, PA-C, RT, maintained that APPs often play an integral role and “become the clinical face to the department” in facilitating workflow, communicating with referring providers and assisting with minimally invasive procedures.

“A lot of times, the APP is the most consistent member of the team that is at a hospital or clinic setting, seeing patients regularly, both clinically and performing procedures, interacting with referring providers, interacting with our nursing staff and our technologists. (They help) keep the process moving seamlessly so that the interventionist or the diagnostic radiologist can focus on higher level, more intricate diagnostic reads or procedures,” explained Davis, the national subspecialty lead for advanced practice providers for Radiology Partners.

In a recent interview with Diagnostic Imaging at the RSNA conference, Davis recalled one radiology practice tin North Carolina that started out with two APPs approximately seven years ago and now has 15 APPs. There are currently less than 1,000 APPs working in radiology, according to Davis.

For radiologists considering adding an APP to their practice, Davis recommended reaching out to practices that have done this successfully, determining what the APP’s role will be and what he or she can be trained on, reviewing current state scope of practice for APPs and looking into credentialing of APPs at local facilities.

“The credentialing process is vitally important and a big hurdle. So, sit down (and) invest the time in developing a plan so that the department doesn't run into hurdles and so that APP feels successful as they're going through the onboarding process,” advised Davis.

(Editor’s note: For additional coverage from the RSNA conference, click here.)

Davis conceded that there is currently no timeline in place for developing a radiology-specific role and/or training for APPs. However, he maintained that radiology organizations as well as the American Academy of Physician Assistants and the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners recognize that APPs can offer significant utility in a field struggling with a shortage of radiologists.

“I'm a little biased about the work that APPs could do in the field in conjunction with their colleagues,” noted Davis. “When it’s truly seen as a team-based approach and working as partners in caring for patients, the practice benefits, the hospital client benefits and the patients benefit.”

(Editor’s note: For related content, see “Current Perspectives on Radiology Workforce Issues and Potential Solutions,” “Where Things Stand with the Radiologist Shortage” and “Radiology Study Finds Increasing Rates of Non-Physician Practitioner Image Interpretation in Office Settings.”)

For more insights from Chris Davis, watch the video below.