How NCCPA Uses PA Profile Data to Advance Profession
National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA)
NCCPA: Certification. Excellence. NCCPA is the only credentialing organization for PAs in the U.S.
With data from over 140,000 Board Certified PAs, NCCPA has the most robust workforce data on the profession.
Since 2012, NCCPA has collected data through the PA Professional Profile. This is a tool that adheres to the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) minimum data set guidelines for health professions.
The Profile is updated annually to capture data on emerging and important topics in the PA profession, such as practice settings, specialties, demographics, education and compensation.
NCCPA relies on the aggregate data from the Profile to help describe how and where PAs are working, to provide customized reports to PAs, publish annual statistical reports on the profession, conduct workforce research studies, and inform strategic and operational decisions.
"NCCPA protects the security and confidentiality of the data by having a dedicated team of data experts, secure systems, and strict policies and procedures," said Andrzej Kozikowski, Ph.D, NCCPA Senior Director of Research.
One of the benefits PAs receive from providing data to the Profile is access to individualized, real-time reports that allow them to compare their data with other PAs in different categories.
These reports can help PAs negotiate salaries, compete for new positions, facilitate personal and professional evaluations and provide information for presentations.
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To access these reports, PAs can log into their personal record on NCCPA’s website and click on the tab for “My Professional Profile.”
Another benefit is that NCCPA publishes annual statistical reports on the PA profession that are available for free download on its website.
These reports provide useful and interesting data on the PA profession to researchers, policy makers and news outlets. NCCPA also conducts research studies using the Profile data and publishes the results in peer-reviewed journals and presents them at health care conferences and may be accessed here.
These studies help raise awareness of the PA profession and its contributions to the health care system.
Data from the Profile helps inform NCCPA’s strategic and operational decisions on the products and services it provides to PAs and the public, such as certification exams, certificates of added qualifications, and public outreach.
NCCPA strives to align its mission and vision with the needs and trends of the PA profession and the health care system. To ensure the accuracy and completeness of the data, it is important for PAs to update their Profile yearly, especially as new questions are added each year.
"By providing data to the Profile,” Kozikowski said, “PAs can take pride in knowing they are part of the most complete repository of workforce data on the PA profession and that they are helping?advance the profession and serve the public."