Identifying Endocrinology Nurse Practitioners and Physician Associates Using Claims Data

Authors

• Anya Cutler, Center for Interdisciplinary Population and Health Research, MaineHealth Institute for Research. 1, Riverfront Plaza, Westbrook, ME 04092, USA.
• Dana Schwartz, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY, USA.
• Chelsea Bodnar, Montana Pediatrics, Kalispell, MT, USA.
• Laura Faherty, RAND, Boston, MA, USA.
• James Bohnhoff, Center for Interdisciplinary Population and Health Research, MaineHealth Institute for Research. 1, Riverfront Plaza, Westbrook, ME 04092, USA.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-2026

Institution/Department

Center for Interdisciplinary Population and Health Research

Journal Title

The journal for nurse practitioners : JNP

Abstract

Although Nurse Practitioners and Physician Associates (NPs and PAs) provide a growing proportion of pediatric specialty care, research using medical claims data may omit this care because the specializations of NPs and PAs are not reflected by their taxonomy codes. Using 2021 Montana Medicaid claims data and phone-based surveys of 37 providers, we found that a high proportion of NP or PA visits associated with a type 1 diabetes diagnosis was a reliable indicator that the provider specialized in endocrinology. This finding suggests an opportunity to better account for NP- and PA-provided specialty care in future health care workforce research.

ISSN

1555-4155

Recommended Citation

Cutler, Anya; Schwartz, Dana; Bodnar, Chelsea; Faherty, Laura; and Bohnhoff, James, "Identifying Endocrinology Nurse Practitioners and Physician Associates Using Claims Data" (2026). MaineHealth Maine Medical Center. 4608.
https://knowledgeconnection.mainehealth.org/mmc/4608