About half of all office-based U.S. physicians  were in practices employing so-called “physician extenders,” with primary care  physicians being more likely to work with them than medical specialists,  according to 

 According to the National Center for Health  Statistics, in 2009 49.1% of office-based physicians  were in practices that used nurse practitioners (NPs), certified nurse midwives  (CNMs), or physician assistants (PAs).

 NPs, CNMs, or PAs were more  likely to be in primary care, and larger and/or multispecialty practices. They  were less likely to work with older physicians (as opposed to middle-aged  physicians) or in smaller, single-specialty practices.

 Physician extenders also tended  to be in practices with higher revenues from Medicaid and a lower proportion of  Medicare patients, according to the report, which was based on the 2009  National Ambulatory Care Survey.

Researchers  said they conducted the study because, “The expansion of health insurance  coverage through healthcare reform, along with the aging of the population, are  expected to strain the capacity for providing healthcare. Projections of the  future physician workforce predict declines in the supply of physicians and  decreasing physician work hours for primary care. An expansion of care  delivered by NPs, CNMs, and PAs is often cited as a solution to the predicted  surge in demand for healthcare services and calls for an examination of current  reliance on these providers.”

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About half of all office-based U.S. physicians were in practices employing so-called ?physician extenders,? with primary care physicians being more likely to work with them than medical specialists, according to a government report.