ABSTRACT
Nonphysician providers (NPP) increasingly fill roles traditionally performed by housestaff.
Downsizing of a pediatric residency program prompted phased replacement of housestaff
in a 26-bed neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Subsidized education for neonatal
nurse-practitioners, recruitment of physician assistants, and NPP leadership took
place over 18 months, at which time all housestaff functions were assumed by NPP.
Cost to establish the program, impact on hospital revenue under New York's prospective
reimbursement system, and quality of care were evaluated. The net startup cost for
the NPP program was $441,000 ($722,000 for education, salaries, staff replacement,
and recruitment, partially offset by a New York State workforce demonstration project
grant). Ongoing costs of the program are $1.2 million/yr (including salaries, off-hours
medical backup, recruitment, administrative overhead, and loss of Indirect and direct
medical education reimbursement, partially offset by recaptured housestaff salaries
and ancillary expense reductions). Access to care was maintained. Quality of care
was assessed during the last 6 months of housestaff and the first 6 months of full
NPP staffing, revealing similar weight-specific survival, and improvement in documentation
and compliance with immunization and blood utilization guidelines during the NPP period.
NPP are expensive in comparison to housestaff. Revenue is minimally adversely affected,
but access to NICU services and quality of care was preserved and in some cases enhanced
with NPP. In the context of graduate medical education reform, staffing problems such
as ours will be encountered increasingly in inpatient subspecialty settings.
Keywords
Nonphysician practitioners - neonatal nurse practioners - physician assistants - housestaff
