Exploring a Team-Based Approach to COPD: The Role of APPs

ReachMD Announcer:
You’re listening to Clinician’s Roundtable on ReachMD. On this episode, we’ll hear from Mr. Brian Bizik, who’s a physician assistant and Respiratory Care Coordinator at Terry Reilly Health Centers in Boise and Nampa, Idaho. He’ll be discussing the role of advanced practice providers in COPD care. Here’s Mr. Bizik now.

Mr. Bizik:
A great question is, how do PAs and NPs—APPs—impact pulmonary care? And the great news is that we're impacting it at every single level. Part of that is driven by the fact that there's just not enough pulmonologists to go around. There's really no area in this country that has an abundance of pulmonologists.

So, the PAs and NPS involved can be an extension of that physician and do so many things that help the patient, whether it's inpatient care—we have PAs that are starting clinics on readmission reduction for COPD—and outpatient care, inhaler device selection and instruction. PAs and NPs play a big role because there is a deficit of physicians, so we can be part of that team and impact care in many different areas of COPD.

Where are PAs and NPS having the biggest impact? We're playing a role in almost every aspect of care. There are PAs and NPs doing a lot of inpatient care. There's a characteristic that I see time and time again with PAs and NPS in COPD care, and that's time. They have the time to spend with patients. Now, it's not always the case. Sometimes, they're doing inpatient care and critical care, but usually physicians are being pulled away a lot. We are not being pulled away nearly as much.

So, we have the time to spend with patients. Can they inhale their medications adequately? Do they understand how and when to use a nebulizer, and when do we go to a biologic? When would it be appropriate? Those are things that PAs and NPs can do working side by side with a physician. And when you have a physician-led care team for pulmonary medicine, whether it's asthma or COPD, that can impact the patient’s quality of life, reduction in exacerbations, outcomes, all the things we want to get better do get better when you have this team environment when it comes to both asthma and COPD care.

ReachMD Announcer:
That was Mr. Brian Bizik discussing how advanced practice providers can play a role in COPD care. To access this and other episodes in our series, visit Clinician’s Roundtable on ReachMD.com, where you can Be Part of the Knowledge. Thanks for listening!