Georgia Physician Assistant Workforce Based on 2014 - 2015 Licensure Renewal Data Georgia Board for Physician Workforce State of Georgia Published February 2017 Acknowledgements The report was produced under the direction of LaSharn Hughes, Executive Director, Andrea Pass, Data Analyst, Tommy Kelly, IT Support Specialist, Consultant G.E. Alan Dever, MD PhD and Audra Cochran, MD, Medical Intern. The Board would like to thank the Georgia Composite Medical Board for providing physician assistant licensure renewal data. This document is provided to the Chairperson Mark G. Hanly, MD and the Georgia Board members on behalf of Executive Director LaSharn Hughes. 2 Executive Summary The 2015 Physician assistant profile marks the 2nd year the Georgia Board for Physician Workforce (GBPW) has examined the supply and distribution of Georgia's physician assistants using data from license renewals. The physician assistants data are analyzed by the GBPW and the resulting information is reported on a biennial basis. There were 3,597 licensed and practicing physician assistants in Georgia. There were 35.2 physician assistants per 100,000 population who were actively practicing in the state of Georgia. The top 3 practice settings for physician assistants are hospital-clinics 27.6%, solo physician practices 17.2% and multi-specialty physician groups 15.4%. In Georgia, whites represented 81% of physicians assistants, blacks represented 11% and asians represented 5%. Hispanics represented 2.7% of the physician assistant population in Georgia. 1,066 physicians assistants are age 50 and above, of that number 15.2% reported they would retire in 5 years. Males represented 39% of physicians assistants in Georgia, while females represented 61%. The top three core specialties for physician assistants are family medicine 13.0%, emergency medicine 9.5% and internal medicine 6.0%. 22.5% of physician assistants practiced in the anesthesiologist specialty, 13% practice in the family medicine specialty and 9.5% practice in the emergency medicine specialty. There are 30 counties in Georgia with no physician assistants, this represents 324,186 population. The top 3 ranked counties for physician assistants are Decatur 103.0, Tift 93.2 and Thomas 93.2 per 100,000. The bottom 3 ranked counties for physicians assistants are Madison 3.5, Jones 3.5 and Jackson 1.6 per 100,000. 83.9% of physician assistants reported they work fulltime, 16.1% reported they do not work fulltime. 1.9% of physician assistants reported they work for state government, 3.3% reported they work for county government. 3 Methods The survey consists of data for 2014 and 2015 for physician assistants (PAs) as reported by the Georgia Composite Medical Board. The survey is not mandatory to renew the license. Some physicians assistants choose to opt out of the survey. The Georgia Board for Physicians Workforce (GBPW) compiles, validates and analyzes data from the surveys to prepare a report on physician assistant characteristics, supply and demand. Data Set Exclusions Physician assistants licensed but not practicing in Georgia Data Set Inclusions Physician assistants licensed and practicing in Georgia Count of Total Physician Assistants The count of total physician assistants methodology was used to determine how many physician assistants are practicing in the state of Georgia. One (1 ) License Number = One (1 ) Physician Assistant Method: If a physician assistant reported that he/she worked in a primary county then he/she was counted as one (1) physician assistant. If a physician assistant reported that he/she worked in one of the secondary counties but did not work in one of the primary counties then he/she was counted as one (1) physician assistant practicing in the secondary county. The rate of physician assistants per 100,000 population was then calculated by County. 4 Physician Assistants Physician assistants (PAs) practice medicine with supervising physicians and work in all areas of medicine such as: family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology and surgery specialties. Selected Characteristics of Physician Assistants Table 1 2015 Median Pay $98,180 per year Typical Education Masters degree Number of Jobs 94,400 nationally Job Outlook 2014 - 2024 30% growth nationally Occupational Outlook Handbook-Physician Assistants 2015 (December 2017). Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/physician-assistants.htm on February 2, 2017. 5 US Distribution of Physician Assistants by Number 2014 Map 1 *3,597 * Number of PAs in Georgia for 2014-2015. National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants. (2015). Retrieved from https://www.nccpa.net/news/2014StatisticalReport on February 2, 2017. 6 Physician Assistants by Age Group and Retiring in 5 Years Georgia 2014 - 2015 Chart 1 The two highest age groups for physician assistants were less than 35 (22.6%) and age group 35-39 (18.3%). 29.6% of Georgia's physician assistants were age 50 and above, of that number 15.2% reported they would retire in 5 years. 7 Chart 2 Physician Assistants by Race Georgia 2014 - 2015 In 2014 2015 whites represented 81% of the physician assistant population. Blacks represented 11% of physician assistants. Asians represented 5% of physician assistants. Physician Assistants by Gender Chart 3 Georgia 2014 - 2015 In 2014 2015 61% of physicians assistants in Georgia were female, males represented 39%. 8 Distribution of Physician Assistants by Map 2 MSA and Non-MSA, Georgia 2014 - 2015 In the United States, a geographical area with relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties through the area is called a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). An area with low population density and little economic ties to surrounding areas is called a Non-Metropolitan Statistical Area (Non-MSA). Table 2 Note: All MSAs are in color, the color is null for Non-MSAs. Rate per 100,000 by MSA 0 1-10 11-19 20 - 30 30-82 12 Counties 18 Counties 16 Counties 13 Counties 15 Counties Based on the renewal data the state of Georgia has 3,597 actively practicing physician assistants. The rate for total physicians assistants is 35.2 per 100,000 population. There are 12 counties in MSAs with no physician assistants. This represents a population of 146,931. 9 Distribution of Core Specialties Physician Assistants by MSA and Non-MSA Georgia 2014 - 2015 Table 3 Distribution of Core Specialties by MSA/Non-MSA Demographics, Georgia 2014 - 2015 Specialty Pediatrics General Surgery Emergency Medicine Internal Medicine OB/GYN Family Medicine Totals MSA Physician Assistants 63 61 277 175 32 340 948 Percent 82.9% 82.4% 81.0% 80.6% 76.2% 73.0% 77.9% Non-MSA Physician Assisants 13 13 65 42 10 126 269 Percent 17.1% 17.6% 19.0% 19.4% 23.8% Totals by Specialty 76 74 342 217 42 77.9% of physician assistants practiced in a MSA and 22.1% practiced in a Non-MSA. The top 3 core specialties for physicians assistants practicing in a MSA pediatrics 82.9%, general surgery 82.4% and emergency medicine 81.0%. The top 3 core specialties for physician assistants practicing in a Non-MSA were family medicine at 27.0%, ob/gyn 23.8% and internal medicine 19.4%. 27.0% 466 22.1% 1,217 10 Chart 3 Chart 4 Chart 5 Physician Assistant Specialty Mix Georgia 2014 - 2015 The specialty mix for physician assistants in core specialties was 34%, in specialties outside of core specialties 41% and other 25%. Physician Assistants by Core Specialties Georgia 2014 2015 The top three core specialties for physician assistants were family medicine 13.0%, emergency medicine 9.5% and internal medicine 6.0%. 11 Physician Assistants by Practice Setting Georgia 2014 - 2015 Table 4 Practice Setting Hospital-Clinic Solo physician practice Multi-specialty physician group Hospital-University Physician practice management organization Community Health Center College/University HMO Nursing home or LTC facility Home Health Agency Other Totals Number Percent 994 620 555 459 76 71 28 14 12 5 763 3597 27.6% 17.2% 15.4% 12.8% 2.1% 2.0% 0.8% 0.4% 0.3% 0.1% 21.2% 100.0% 12 Physician Assistants by Top 5 Practice Settings Georgia 2014 - 2015 Chart 6 The top 5 practice settings for physician assistants were hospital-clinics, solo physician practice, multi-specialty physician groups, hospital-universities and other. 13 Distribution of Physician Assistants by Practice Setting and Core Specialty, Number and Percent Georgia 2014 - 2015 Table 5 Core Specialty and Percent Family Medicine Percent Internal Medicine Percent Pediatrics Percent OB/GYN Percent Emergency Medicine Percent General Surgery Percent Totals Percent Hospital-Clinic 49 17.8% 32 11.6% 8 2.9% 7 2.5% 161 58.5% 18 6.5% 275 100.0% Solo Physician Practice 159 56.4% 61 21.6% 30 10.6% 19 6.7% 7 2.5% 6 2.1% 282 100.0% Multi-Specialty Physician Group 70 44.3% 39 24.7% 11 7.0% 3 1.9% 6 3.8% 29 18.4% 158 100.0% Hospital University 4 4.4% 18 19.8% 5 5.5% 0 0.0% 59 64.8% 5 5.5% 91 100.0% 14 Chart 7 Physician Assistants Fulltime Status Georgia 2014 - 2015 83.9% of physician assistants worked fulltime, 16.1% reported they did not work fulltime. In Rural Georgia 228 physician assistants reported they work fulltime, 39 reported they do not work fulltime. In Non-Rural Georgia 2791 physician assistants reported they work fulltime, 539 reported they do not work fulltime. Physician Assistants Employed by the State or County Chart 8 Georgia 2014 - 2015 15 Map 3 Physician Assistants by County Georgia 2014 - 2015 There are 35.2 physicians assistants per 100,000 population in Georgia. Legend Non-Rural with PAs *Rural with PAs *Rural No PAs *Rural represents population of 35,000 or less Top 3 Counties by Rank County Decatur Tift Thomas Physician Assistants 28 38 42 Pop 27,174 40,764 45,063 Rate 103.0 93.2 93.2 Rank 1 2 3 Bottom 3 Counties by Rank County Madison Jones Jackson Physician Assistants 1 1 1 Pop 28,441 28,494 63,360 Rate 3.5 3.5 1.6 Rank 127 128 129 16 Georgia County Name Georgia Appling Atkinson Bacon Baker Baldwin Banks Barrow Bartow Ben Hill Berrien Bibb Bleckley Brantley Brooks Bryan Bulloch Burke Butts Calhoun Camden Candler Carroll Catoosa Charlton Chatham Chattahoochee Chattooga Cherokee Clarke Clay Clayton Clinch Cobb Coffee Colquitt Columbia Cook Coweta Crawford Table 6 - Georgia Physician Assistants by County Total Primary Care Physician 2015 Rate per Service Area Assistants Population 100,000 - 3,597 10,214,860 35.2 91 1 18,454 5.4 88 3 8,398 35.7 90 1 11,299 8.9 76 0 3,180 0.0 47 8 45,459 17.6 10 1 18,495 5.4 27 3 75,370 4.0 17 12 102,747 11.7 87 1 17,403 5.7 85 8 18,963 42.2 46 102 153,721 66.4 63 1 12,243 8.2 93 1 18,455 5.4 81 4 15,658 25.5 52 5 35,137 14.2 53 16 72,651 22.0 50 1 22,745 4.4 37 3 23,593 12.7 76 3 6,479 46.3 96 14 52,102 26.9 55 4 10,886 36.7 19 19 114,545 16.6 1 11 66,050 16.7 95 2 12,965 15.4 52 207 286,956 72.1 43 7 11,368 61.6 18 2 24,922 8.0 15 39 235,900 16.5 27 70 123,912 56.5 76 0 3,141 0.0 39 39 273,955 14.2 83 3 6,893 43.5 21 292 741,334 39.4 88 13 43,108 30.2 78 8 45,844 17.5 31 33 144,052 22.9 80 1 17,124 5.8 41 35 138,427 25.3 46 0 12,388 0.0 Rank - 117 30 100 130 66 119 125 89 113 22 9 102 118 43 79 54 124 83 18 40 27 71 70 75 8 10 103 72 14 130 78 21 25 32 67 51 112 44 130 Georgia Physician Assistants by County Total Georgia Primary Care Physician 2015 Rate per County Name Service Area Assistants Population 100,000 Rank Crisp 65 3 22,881 13.1 82 Dade 1 2 16,264 12.3 85 Dawson 11 4 23,312 17.2 69 Decatur 73 28 27,174 103.0 1 DeKalb 23 339 734,871 46.1 19 Dodge 62 4 20,882 19.2 60 Dooly 66 0 14,035 0.0 130 Dougherty 76 55 91,332 60.2 12 Douglas 20 10 140,733 7.1 107 Early 71 4 10,575 37.8 26 Echols 82 1 4,040 24.8 46 Effingham 52 4 57,106 7.0 108 Elbert 29 1 19,364 5.2 120 Emanuel 57 6 22,708 26.4 41 Evans 56 5 10,787 46.4 17 Fannin 4 2 24,303 8.2 101 Fayette 40 67 110,714 60.5 11 Floyd 18 71 96,504 73.6 7 Forsyth 13 62 212,438 29.2 36 Franklin 9 2 22,311 9.0 98 Fulton 22 799 1,010,562 79.1 5 Gilmer 3 3 29,400 10.2 94 Glascock 32 0 3,065 0.0 130 Glynn 93 30 83,579 35.9 28 Gordon 16 17 56,574 30.0 34 Grady 74 2 25,205 7.9 104 Greene 34 2 16,710 12.0 87 Gwinnett 25 215 895,823 24.0 48 Habersham 10 8 43,996 18.2 65 Hall 11 111 193,535 57.4 13 Hancock 33 2 8,551 23.4 50 Haralson 19 5 28,854 17.3 68 Harris 43 2 33,381 6.0 110 Hart 28 0 25,534 0.0 130 Heard 42 0 11,539 0.0 130 Henry 38 47 217,739 21.6 55 Houston 67 24 150,033 16.0 74 Irwin 86 0 9,245 0.0 130 Jackson 27 Jasper 36 1 63,360 1.6 129 2 13,635 14.7 77 17 Table 6 cont'd. - Georgia Physician Assistants by County Total Georgia Primary Care Physician 2015 Rate per County Name Service Area Assistants Population 100,000 Jeff Davis 89 1 14,920 6.7 Jefferson 49 5 16,106 31.0 Jenkins 54 0 8,957 0.0 Johnson 48 2 9,656 20.7 Jones 46 1 28,494 3.5 Lamar 44 1 18,201 5.5 Lanier 84 1 10,312 9.7 Laurens 60 13 47,731 27.2 Lee 76 4 29,202 13.7 Liberty 52 16 62,467 25.6 Lincoln 31 0 7,673 0.0 Long 92 0 17,731 0.0 Lowndes 82 34 112,865 30.1 Lumpkin 12 7 31,408 22.3 Macon 66 1 13,632 7.3 Madison 27 1 28,441 3.5 Marion 43 0 8,761 0.0 McDuffie 32 4 21,540 18.6 Mcintosh 93 1 13,969 7.2 Meriwether 42 0 21,190 0.0 Miller 72 3 5,854 51.2 Mitchell 76 2 22,574 8.9 Monroe 45 4 27,103 14.8 Montgomery 58 1 8,951 11.2 Morgan 27 1 18,046 5.5 Murray 2 2 39,565 5.1 Muscogee 43 102 200,579 50.9 Newton 36 11 105,473 10.4 Oconee 27 9 35,965 25.0 Oglethorpe 27 0 14,871 0.0 Paulding 21 15 152,238 9.9 Peach 46 1 26,720 3.7 Pickens 14 9 30,309 29.7 Pierce 94 0 19,103 0.0 Pike 37 2 17,941 11.1 Polk 18 2 41,524 4.8 Pulaski 64 0 11,396 0.0 Putnam 35 3 21,353 14.0 Quitman 70 0 2,302 0.0 Rabun 7 4 16,281 24.6 Rank 109 31 130 56 128 116 97 39 81 42 130 130 33 53 105 127 130 62 106 130 15 99 76 91 115 121 16 93 45 130 96 126 35 130 92 122 130 80 130 47 Georgia Physician Assistants by County Total Georgia County Primary Care Physician 2015 Rate per Name Service Area Assistants Population 100,000 Rank Randolph 70 2 7,193 27.8 38 Richmond 31 165 201,793 81.8 4 Rockdale 24 20 88,856 22.5 52 Schley 68 1 5,168 19.3 59 Screven 51 0 14,162 0.0 130 Seminole 72 0 8,647 0.0 130 Spalding 37 18 64,051 28.1 37 Stephens 8 3 25,586 11.7 88 Stewart 69 0 5,851 0.0 130 Sumter 68 5 30,779 16.2 73 Talbot 43 0 6,337 0.0 130 Taliaferro 30 0 1,639 0.0 130 Tattnall 56 10 25,229 39.6 24 Taylor 46 0 8,330 0.0 130 Telfair 61 3 16,400 18.3 64 Terrell 76 0 9,113 0.0 130 Thomas 75 42 45,063 93.2 3 Tift 79 38 40,764 93.2 2 Toombs 58 12 27,241 44.1 20 Towns 6 4 11,182 35.8 29 Treutlen 60 0 6,785 0.0 130 Troup 42 14 69,763 20.1 58 Turner 79 1 8,214 12.2 86 Twiggs 46 0 8,390 0.0 130 Union 5 9 22,267 40.4 23 Upson 44 5 26,368 19.0 61 Walker 1 4 68,066 5.9 111 Walton 26 5 88,399 5.7 114 Ware 94 27 35,370 76.3 6 Warren 32 1 5,460 18.3 63 Washington 48 1 20,816 4.8 123 Wayne 92 7 29,534 23.7 49 Webster 69 0 2,648 0.0 130 Wheeler 59 1 7,903 12.7 84 White 11 0 28,319 0.0 130 Whitfield 2 21 104,216 20.2 57 Wilcox 64 1 8,857 11.3 90 Wilkes 30 Wilkinson 46 1 9,867 10.1 95 0 9,155 0.0 130 18 Worth 77 0 20,699 0.0 130 The 2015 Physician Assistant document can be viewed and downloaded on the internet at gbpw.georgia.gov. The Georgia Board for Physician Workforce welcomes comments and suggestions for future editions of this report. Please send comments to gbpw@dch.ga.gov. 19