In ED patients with chest and abdominal pain, care delivered by physicians and APPs is similar

In patients matched on complexity and acuity presenting to the emergency department with chest pain and abdominal pain, the care delivered by advanced practice providers (APPs) and emergency physicians is largely similar with respect to diagnostic test ordering and admission decisions. That is the finding of a study just published in the January 2021 issue of Academic Emergency Medicine (AEM), a journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM).

The lead author of the study is Jesse M. Pines, MD, MBA, MSCE of US Acute Care Solutions, Canton, Ohio and the Department of Emergency Medicine, Allegheny Health Network, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The findings of the study are discussed in a recent AEM podcast titled, "What a Difference an APP Makes? Diagnostic Testing Differences Between APPs and Physicians."

The authors recommend that future research should continue to explore the optimal use of advanced practice providers in the emergency department and the best ways to deploy this expanding part of the United States emergency department workforce.