ArticleThe Canadian journal of infectious diseases & medical microbiology = Journal canadien des maladies infectieuses et de la microbiologie medicale
Improving health care efficiency through the integration of a physician assistant into an infectious diseases consult service at a large urban community hospital.
Article in The Canadian journal of infectious diseases & medical microbiology = Journal canadien des maladies infectieuses et de la microbiologie medicale. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The impact of Medical Associate Professions (MAPs) on the productivity, quality of care, patient and healthcare workforce satisfaction, and budget implications in various healthcare settings: a systematic review.BMC health services research · 2025Pooled it
- The cost-effectiveness of physician assistants/associates: A systematic review of international evidence.PloS one · 2021Pooled it
- Developing and integrating physician assistants/associates in UK hospital teams: a realist review of lessons from international experiences.BMC medicine · 2025Review
- Article
- Curriculum and Competency Guidelines for the Advanced Care Practitioner in Infectious Disease.Open forum infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Quantitative and qualitative impact of physician assistants in a Canadian urology setting.Canadian Urological Association journal = Journal de l'Association des urologues du Canada · 2023Article
- Ontario physician assistants: Decision time.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2019Article
- Article
- The emergence of the physician assistant role in a Canadian acute care surgery setting.Canadian journal of surgery. Journal canadien de chirurgieArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPhysician assistants (PAs) have recently been introduced into the Canadian health care system in some provinces; however, there are little data demonstrating their impact.
methodsA retrospective case-control study was conducted between January 2010 and December 2013. Length of stay (LOS) and mortality were examined in the infectious diseases consult service (IDCS) compared with hospital-wide controls. The two-year period before the introduction of the PA to the IDCS of a large urban community hospital in Canada (2010 to 2011) was compared with the two-year period following the introduction of the PA (2012 to 2013).
resultsFollowing the introduction of a PA to the IDCS, there was a decrease in time to consultation from 21.4 h to 14.3 h (P<0.0001). LOS was significantly decreased among IDCS patients by 3.6 days more than that seen in matched hospital-wide controls (P=0.0001). Mortality did not significantly change after PA introduction in either cases or controls. DISCUSSION/
conclusionPAs can improve health efficiencies in the Canadian health care setting, leading to reduction in LOS.
Indexed as
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.