Due to the breadth and scope of family medicine training, family physicians may elect to practice in a number of different settings, from inpatient to outpatient or both. They may collaborate in those settings with any number of different types of medical professionals. The nature of these collaborations may include clinical support with patient care (as with a medical assistant, a scribe, or possibly a licensed professional nurse or registered nurse). They may include a supervisory component, such as when a nurse practitioner or physician assistant is supervised by a physician, although these roles vary by state legislation. Other collaborators include embedded pharmacists to assist with medication optimization, social workers or clinical psychologists for mental health care, and care coordinators or social workers to assist with wraparound services including discharge planning and connection to outpatient resources.

When American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) Diplomates were asked about team collaboration, approximately 4 in 5 respondents reported working with a medical assistant (MA; 81.3%). The majority of respondents also said they worked with a nurse practitioner (NP) or advanced practice nurse (APN) regularly (57.5%), and more than half also collaborated with a registered nurse (RN) (55.9%) and a licensed professional nurse (LPN) (51.7%). More than one quarter of the sampled physicians collaborated with other professionals, including physician assistants (PA) (43.6%), care coordinators (30.7%), pharmacists (27.8%), psychologists (27.6%), and social workers (27.1%). Additionally, 3,284 family physicians (13.5% of those surveyed) report working with psychiatrists.

TABLE 9. Non-Physician Health Care Providers Working with Family Physicians