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Some Do Get It

Here is a link to a Medical Economics column, "How I built a successful medical practice in under seven years." What struck me about the article is Dr. Kurt Hunter, a Wyoming physician, and the utilization of physician assistants (a total of 4) in his practice.

Each PA sees about 40 acutely ill patients daily, and I see the more complicated cases—usually about 15 per day, with visits lasting 20 to 40 minutes.


This sounds like a perfect scenario and a true team-oriented approach to primary care in this community. The physician should be taking on the more complex cases leaving the more routine cases to the PAs (though we all know, nothing is routine). Not surprisingly, other physicians in the blogosphere have criticized him for "giving away primary care to mid-levels" which just shows the stubborn mindset of some.

According to the article, Dr. Hunter was also integral in supporting Wyoming legislation that increased the number of PAs that he can directly work with from 2 to 3 and then from 3 to 4. How refreshing it is to see a truly integrated team approach to primary care in this underserved community!

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