Letter | Physician-led teams ensure best possible care
I am an otolaryngologist/head and neck surgeon and have been practicing ear, nose and throat surgery on the Grand Strand for the last 16 years. Prior to that, I served on active duty as a Medical Corps Officer in the U.S Navy for 10 years. That was followed by one year of internship, three years as a Naval flight surgeon, followed by four years of further residency training in ear nose and throat surgery before beginning my independent practice of otolaryngology in 1995.
As such, I am writing this to illustrate the vast training and education of South Carolina's physicians and to voice my support of S.C. House Bill H.3508. The bill, sponsored by the S.C. Medical Association (SCMA), lays out a comprehensive plan for continued supervision of advanced practice nurses (APRN's) in our state.
I support this bill over a previously introduced bill, H.3078, sponsored by APRN groups that pushes for a near complete lifting of supervision and oversight on APRN providers under the guise of increasing access to quality care.
It is my feeling that by doing so, it would have a negligible effect on increasing access to care, but could also significantly impact the quality of the care that our patients might receive. Nurse practitioners are well trained health care professionals, but their training and experience is substantially less in-depth when compared with that of the physicians that they work with as part of their health care teams. Much of a medical professional's medical education and expertise comes from the countless hours of patient care and mentorship that one receives from the trained and experienced medical providers above them after they receive their formal degree.
To practice independently removes that close supervisory physician provider that can observe, critique, teach, and mentor — which I feel is essential for the further professional development of any medical provider. This would actually rob from the APRNs seeking independent practice one of the critical tools that would allow them grow professionally — by gaining further clinical experience to advance their knowledge and experience base.
As trained physician with almost two decades of experience, I believe the health care team is the essential unit for which to provide the best, most timely, cost-effective quality health care. These teams must continue to be physician-led and include all aspects of professional providers. I believe nurse practitioners should continue to play an integral part of that team.
The physicians of the SCMA look forward to working with our legislators and the APRNs to find an acceptable compromise that provides for a model that is both patient-centered and physician-led — ultimately ensuring the best possible care for our patients.
The writer is chairman of the South Carolina Medical Association Board of Trustees
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This story was originally published April 11, 2015 at 8:00 AM with the headline "Letter | Physician-led teams ensure best possible care."