An Advanced Practice Provider Advisory Group: Design and Structure

Abstract

Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) are critical to the functioning of healthcare systems. The 2011 Institute of Medicine report describes an optimal environment for APPs to provide quality, safe, cost effective patient care. The APP workforce will continue to grow with an anticipated projection of 244,000 Nurse Practitioners by 2025, which is a 94% increase from 128,000 in 2008. In addition, the Association of Academic Medical Colleges (AAMC) estimates a shortage of 46,000 and 90,400 physicians by 2025. Therefore, healthcare delivery will be driven significantly by APPs. As the APP workforce continues to grow, leaders among these groups are needed to provide a voice within organizations. Organizational structure often presents gaps in leadership for APPs. The Chief Medical Officer and the Chief Nursing Officer are charged with the representation of large workforces, which may minimize the representation for APPs at the Executive level. To bridge this organizational gap and provide leadership for the APPs, this project was an organizational redesign which had the goal of creating an APP advisory group within an academic medical care center in the Southeastern US with approximately four hundred APPs. An advisory group composed of APP leaders was formed. After development of a mission statement, baseline data for time to credentialing, and turnover rates were collected. Opportunities for APP representation within the organization are emerging. The outcome of this project was creating a formalized group for APPs which provided a governance structure within the organization.