Martin Health System | For your health | Winter 2018

12 MARTIN HEALTH SYSTEM What an APC can do for you Advanced practice clinicians are a key part of your care team WHEN IT comes to receiving ex- cellent medical care, doctors aren’t the only providers. As medicine has become more complicated, many health care providers have recognized the value that advanced practice clinicians (APCs) bring to both outpatient and inpatient settings. What is an APC? APCs are highly trained and quali- fied medical professionals, either nurse practitioners or physician assistants. Martin Health Physician Group currently employs 63 APCs. One of them might take care of you. Nurse practitioners and physician assistants can examine, diagnose and treat patients, as well as prescribe medicine. Some are in the primary care setting, while others provide care in a specialty—for instance, in urology, gastroenterology or neurology. More hands on deck “Our nurse practitioners and physician assistants are an essential part of the health care team,” said Laurence Rothstein, MD, Martin Health senior vice president and chief physician group officer. “They provide an excellent extension of care and help support our busy physicians.” With an increasingly older population to care for, physicians have patients with very complex and complicated needs. Having APCs in the practice frees up the physicians to focus on those patients as needed. “Medicine has become too complicated for physicians to provide care all by themselves,” Rothstein said. “But they will always be available to their patients if there is a question or concern. And instead of having just one doctor, the patient has a team working with him or her.” YOU’RE IN GOOD HANDS. To find a Martin Health Physician Group provider, visit martinhealth.org/mhpg . Taking care of you. Advanced practice clinicians, like Kadian Simmonds (above), an ARNP with Martin Health Physician Group Urology, can examine, diagnose and treat patients, as well as prescribe medication. PATIENT CARE