Re: Covid-19 is threatening the survival of US primary care
Dear Editor
This article was written with a narrow audience in mind and honestly struck a nerve in me as a NP who functions in the pediatric primary care role. The statement, "In those same eight years, visits to alternative care sites, such as emergency departments and retail medical clinics, grew by nearly half (46.9%). Many, including the more than 1000 “Minute Clinics” of the drug store chain CVS, depend on physicians’ assistants and nurses for care delivery, instead of PCPs." particularly irritated me! First, it would have been better to say Advanced Practice Nurses instead of nurses (which could mean LPNs or RNs without advanced degrees or knowledge) and second, this statement implies that PAs and "nurses" aren't PCPs. Especially in rural areas of the U.S., APNs and PAs function as PCPs quite often because the MDs/DOs don't often want to work in the clinics located in rural areas. Keep in mind that the P in PCP stands for Provider NOT Dr., and all Providers who work in clinics as PCPs have been affected by the decreased number of visits due to the COVID-19 restrictions. Throughout the article, the author referred to Dr's and never included NPs or PAs as also being affected.
Tired of always having to fight this battle!
Karyn Dean, APN CPNP-PC
Rapid Response:
Re: Covid-19 is threatening the survival of US primary care
Dear Editor
This article was written with a narrow audience in mind and honestly struck a nerve in me as a NP who functions in the pediatric primary care role. The statement, "In those same eight years, visits to alternative care sites, such as emergency departments and retail medical clinics, grew by nearly half (46.9%). Many, including the more than 1000 “Minute Clinics” of the drug store chain CVS, depend on physicians’ assistants and nurses for care delivery, instead of PCPs." particularly irritated me! First, it would have been better to say Advanced Practice Nurses instead of nurses (which could mean LPNs or RNs without advanced degrees or knowledge) and second, this statement implies that PAs and "nurses" aren't PCPs. Especially in rural areas of the U.S., APNs and PAs function as PCPs quite often because the MDs/DOs don't often want to work in the clinics located in rural areas. Keep in mind that the P in PCP stands for Provider NOT Dr., and all Providers who work in clinics as PCPs have been affected by the decreased number of visits due to the COVID-19 restrictions. Throughout the article, the author referred to Dr's and never included NPs or PAs as also being affected.
Tired of always having to fight this battle!
Karyn Dean, APN CPNP-PC
Competing interests: No competing interests