This week: Welcome to Physician Associate News!
We’re still getting our sea legs as we launch this new endeavor (not a bad name for a ship), and this has been a busy 2 weeks. In the near future, we hope to deliver a new newsletter to your inbox every Friday, but we are starting modestly for now. So enjoy your second PA News (bi-)weekly recap of the news on PAs.
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Are male PAs more likely to hold leadership positions?
The PA profession skews heavily toward women, yet men more likely to hold positions of leadership at work, according to a survey study of PAs in healthcare leadership.
While women still make up the vast majority of PA leaders (8,796 women vs. 5,322 men), they are proportionally less likely to hold a position of leadership (62.3% vs. 72.6%, P<0.001). Conversely, a higher proportion of men in the profession report holding leadership positions (37.7% vs 27.4%, P<0.001).
In other words, the average male PA is more likely to hold a leadership position than the average female PA.
What difference does it make: The authors of the study noted that women face more obstacles in pursuing leadership roles. In fact, 57% reported experiencing those issues, while 62.6% of women reported not being compensated for their leadership roles.
“Years of gender disparity in healthcare leadership may contribute to some of our findings,” the authors wrote. “Evidence shows that only 25% of women globally hold leadership positions in the healthcare sector.”
They also noted that other studies have identified several causes, such as “unsupportive organizations, a lack of mentorship/role models, a lack of leadership skills/education, life-work demands, and gender inequality in leadership.”
Even in a profession where 7 out of 10 people are women, the glass ceiling still hinders women seeking to advance in their careers.
Leadership material: Overall, the study found that 16.9% of PAs held a leadership role.
In addition to being more likely to identify as male, the study concluded that PA leaders enjoy a slightly higher racial and ethnic diversity, often hold advanced degrees, and engage in more administrative work.
The Handoff: If you enjoy some work-life balance, then avoiding leadership duties has its perks.
The study also found that PAs in leadership roles worked longer hours, held additional positions, and performed administrative duties, while also spending less time on patient care duties than non-leaders.
Even worse, the researchers also found roughly a third of PAs in leadership roles reported burnout symptoms (33.4%) or not being satisfied with their work-life balance (28.5%). Life might be better without the extra responsibility after all. Wait, who needs work-life balance when…
PA compensation continues to see significant gains.
PA compensation continues to grow rapidly, according to a new Medscape report. In fact, total average compensation increased from $149,000 in 2025 to $155,000 this year. Even more notable, this marks a 20% increase in total average compensation since 2022.
The report noted that much of the growth appears to be tied to productivity-related payment, which doubled from $5,000 to $10,000 in just 4 years. During the same period base salaries rose by just 17%.
The report suggested the increases are “built differently” because a large share of compensation must be “justified by performance.” That seems to be the way of the healthcare world these days though.
Running the numbers: Location, location, location — just not the way real estate agents mean it. PA compensation is largely tied to where in the industry you work. PAs in operating room (OR) or surgery roles received the highest compensation at $168,000, while non-hospital PAs had the lowest at $149,000.
The rate of growth was also not even across fields. OR/surgery PAs saw a 19% increase in pay from 2022 to 2026, while their emergency department colleagues endured a mere 15% increase.
Another gender disparity: Despite the large gains in compensation across the profession, the gender pay gap continues to persist. Among all PAs, men earned an average of $165,000 compared to $150,000 for women.
Medscape noted the gap did sink from $18,000 in 2022 to $15,000 this year, but it still presents real challenges in a profession largely occupied by women (68% according to the report).
“[The gender pay gap] reflects a significant and systemic inequity that really threatens retention and morale for PAs, and it should be a priority to fix it.”
The Handoff: PAs aren’t just a well-paid bunch, you are also very optimistic. The report found that 60% of PAs anticipated a pay increase in 2025.
However, 41% of PAs don’t believe they are paid fairly, while 63% also feel the disparity between PA and physician pay is too large “given a PA’s contributions.”
We’ll have to see if these gains continue in 2027. On the other hand…
Proposed CMS rules could squeeze PA reimbursements, AAPA says.
The AAPA has urged the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to update the rule on physician fee schedules to increase healthcare access for patients and remove barriers for PAs, as well.
These requests came in the form of a comment letter regarding the 2027 Physician Fee Schedule proposed rule, which is part of an annual process at CMS to update policies on any rules related to payment or fees in healthcare.
Among the main issues this year, the proposed rules would reduce payments for same-day services, reduce Medicare payments, and could lead to alternative approaches to CPT coding and pricing.
The AAPA’s comments emphasized that these proposed changes could significantly impact PAs and their patients.
“These authorizations are critical to ensure Americans have access to medical care and demonstrate that AAPA’s advocacy efforts are making a real difference.”
Sounds like bad news: It’s too soon to say. If these rules are adopted without changes, then PAs could have a more difficult time with reimbursement for certain services, such as those offered same-day — even for surgical procedures related to “significant” and “separately identifiable” health issues.
Similarly, the proposed reduction in Medicare payments could shrink reimbursement for PAs by up to 56 cents per Relative Value Units. This reduction would come from the lapse of a previous legislative rule intended to increase payments to address inflation and practice expenses, which is set to expire on December 31, 2026.
Is there any good news: In the announcement, AAPA highlighted its track record in advocating for better rules for PAs, and its comment letter outlines specific changes for the rule-makers to consider.
For example, the society called for CMS to look into changing requirements for budget neutrality and to consider implementing automatic annual adjustments to practice costs to address inflation.
Besides, these issues and disagreements are the reason CMS has a review and comments period, which ended this week (September 16).
The Handoff: Now, we wait. CMS is expected to issue a final decision on rule changes in late October or early November. We’ll keep you updated…
Physician Associates in the News
The AAPA announced that PAs and APRNs will now be able to order all non-invasive colorectal cancer screening tests covered by Medicare, including RNA- and DNA-based stool tests and fecal occult blood test. The AAPA said this change “demonstrates that CMS is willing to remove barriers to PA practice.” A positive sign all things considered….
One state is spending its funds from the Rural Health Transformation Program to attract more PAs. Gov. Patrick Morrisey of West Virginia announced the state would allocate $2.4 million from the fund to recruit more healthcare workers to rural communities in the state.
It seems that PA programs are also great at producing talented medical providers who actually want to live and work where they studied. Well, at least that’s the case for University of New Mexico’s PA program, where about 90% of students remain in the state to practice after graduation.
U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) have reintroduced a bill designed to improve pay for “high-quality primary care providers,” including PAs and nurse practitioners. Aptly named the Pay PCPs Act, the bill would overhaul the payment model to favor the quality of care delivered instead of the volume of patient visits.
Who needs another superhero team up when you can have elite colleges joining forces to train PA students? It might not be a blockbuster, but Lycoming College entered into an agreement to grant qualified students admission to Penn College’s top-tier PA program.
A $60 million dollar donation?! Fresno Pacific University recently received this sizable gift to bolster several programs and facilities, including building a new PA program, expected to launch in 2029.
Speaking of launching, Iowa-based Des Moines University Medicine and Health Sciences recently opened applications for its new Doctor of Medical Science program. The fully online program offers PAs a degree focused on preparing them for clinical leadership, education, or research roles.