Who's really in charge? Physician assistants and nurse practitioners are common in health care facilities. But how much responsibility do they have? If a patient is injured, you need to find out who - the midlevel provider, the supervising doctor, the facility, or all of them - is responsible.

Trial, May, 2007 by Atkinson, Linda Miller

Once upon a time, a person seeking medical care walked into a doctor's office, hospital, or clinic expecting to see a doctor who would perform the examination. Not anymore. Most patients seeking primary care today will leave the office, clinic, or hospital without ever being seen by a doctor. They will be examined, possibly get some tests and even a prescription or two, and be discharged with instructions from a midlevel provider.

The role of physician assistants and nurse practitioners--collectively called midlevel providers--in health care is growing. Once they gained statutory recognition and licensing, their ranks expanded to meet patient needs for health care--particularly in primary care, where physicians have become scarce. Health care facilities save...

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