Complication Rate of Venous Access Procedures Performed by a Radiology Practitioner Assistant Compared with Interventional Radiology Physicians and Supervised Trainees

The Impact of Nonphysician Providers on Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology Practices: Operational and Educational Implications

“…In comparison, IR faculty members had a 1.3% overall complication rate, whereas IR fellows had an overall complication rate of 0.56%. A similar study evaluating the safety of a single RA performing central venous access procedures was performed by Benham et al [16]. In their study, the authors showed that their single RA had a 0.29% major complication rate and a 0.89% overall complication rate; these were not statistically different from the complication rates of attending physicians (major, 0%; overall, 1.71%) and IR fellows (major, 0.35%; overall, 1.06%).…”

“…The frequency with which NPs and PAs perform imageguided vascular and nonvascular procedures is increasing at the national level [15][16][17]. Such national validated data for RAs, however, are lacking.…”

Global IR: Interventional Radiology in Developing Countries

“…A retrospective review found that in central venous access procedures, practitioner assistants demonstrated no higher complication rates compared with IR physicians. 16 The same benefits driving this trend in the United Stares-increased access to IR procedures at a lower cost-would no doubt be desirable in LMIC.…”

The Impact of Nonphysician Providers on Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology Practices: Regulatory, Billing, and Compliance Perspectives

“…Central venous access procedures, thoracenteses, paracenteses, and percutaneous liver and kidney biopsies are some of the more common procedures performed by NPs and PAs in radiology departments [22][23][24][25][26][27]. The ability and safety of nonphysician providers to perform such procedures are discussed in detail in part 2 of this series.…”

“…A single retrospective study in 2007 examined central venous access procedures performed by a single individual certified as a radiologist practitioner assistant [24] and reported equivalent safety complications with procedures performed by physicians. However, outcomes related to other services rendered by RAs are otherwise largely unknown.…”