How to leverage physician associates in your medical practice to generate more revenue

As healthcare providers seek ways to increase revenue and promote long-term financial sustainability, leveraging physician assistants (PAs) — sometimes called physician associates — should be a priority. Why? Physician assistants help medical practices increase patient volume, maximize physician productivity, expand service offerings, and reduce costs. In fact, 90% of physicians say PAs are important for enhancing care delivery.

In this guide, we dive into how practices can leverage PAs to improve patient satisfaction and boost revenue.

Physician associates can also help offset physician shortages that the Association of American Medical Colleges predicts will reach up to 86,000 physicians by 2036. Some projections are even more concerning, suggesting a shortage of 187,130 full-time equivalent physicians by 2037. The specialties facing the largest supply gaps include emergency medicine, critical care and pulmonology, endocrinology, and neonatology. 

PAs can increasingly fill these gaps across specialties, which explains why physician assistants’ employment is projected to grow 28% from 2023 to 2033 — much faster than the average for all occupations. 

Here are 5 steps providers can take to leverage physician assistants effectively.

Taking into account state regulations regarding physician associate scope of practice, enable PAs to handle a variety of lower-acuity cases, including:

By strategically assigning these services to PAs, physicians can focus consistently on higher acuity, higher revenue-generating services. However, remember that physician assistant scope of practice regulations can vary significantly by state, impacting their ability to provide certain services independently. 

Depending on state laws, physician associates can bill incident-to a supervising physician (i.e., under the physician’s national provider identifier [NPI]), allowing the medical practice to receive 100% of the physician fee schedule amount. Alternatively, with direct billing (under the PA’s own NPI), the practice may receive 85% of the physician fee schedule amount. 

However, incident-to billing can be complex, and payer policies change frequently. Staying up to date on incident-to billing requirements and compliance vulnerabilities is essential. Appointing a staff member to stay current with policies might be necessary. 

PAs can be part of launching new services. For example, physician assistants can help provide advanced primary care management, a service that became billable on January 1, 2025. Physician assistants can also help medical practices launch and sustain urgent care, telemedicine, chronic disease management, behavioral health integration, and remote patient monitoring — possibly at the fraction of a cost it would take to hire an additional physician. 

Physician assistants earn, on average, about $126,000 annually, according to Indeed.com. In contrast, family physicians, for example, earn, on average, about $243,000 annually. However, it's a good practice to compare salaries between the 2 in your area if you're looking for extra clinical support.

Capture additional revenue by leveraging physician associates during evenings and weekends to accommodate more patients, stand out among competitors, and increase revenue. Medical practices can also leverage physician associates for same-day appointments, helping to triage and manage acute conditions. 

The best part? Medical practices simultaneously improve access and patient satisfaction. They may even improve outcomes and lower costs under population health-based initiatives, generating additional incentive payments.

Refine physician assistant schedules based on appointment volume, wait times, and seasonal demand to maximize efficiency and patient throughput.

Medical practices can leverage physician associates in a variety of ways to increase revenue while simultaneously reducing costs and improving patient satisfaction. As physicians pursue comprehensive approaches to financial sustainability, PAs can help establish a foundation for long-term success.