Background/Purpose: 1. To measure and map the ACPAC ERP workforce in Canada. 2. To present a snapshot of general practice characteristics relating to the ACPAC-trained ERP including the nature of their settings, roles and participation in the workforce as ERPs, and models of arthritis care in which they practise.

Methods:

As part of quality assurance measures, graduates of the ACPAC program (www.acpacprogram.ca) were asked to contribute data pertaining to their current practice in the following categories: discipline, geographic location/setting (urban, community, remote/rural), participation in workforce as an ERP (% FTE), nature and percent of practice (orthopaedic, rheumatology) as an ERP, age groups treated, and participation in different models of arthritis care. General practice locations of ACPAC program trained ERPs were geospatially plotted by province across Canada, as well as super-imposed upon Ontario-derived LHIN (local health integrated network) based maps representing Rheumatologist distribution in Ontario.

Results:

There have been 69 graduates of the ACPAC program with 66 in the current workforce (2 retired, one deceased); base disciplines include Physical Therapists (n=49), Occupational Therapists (n=13) and Registered Nurses (n=7). 9 remain working in traditional roles and 3 are in leadership roles leaving a residual of 54 in active ERP roles. The practice settings of these ERPs are as follows: urban (50%); community (35%); and remote/rural (15%). The nature and percent of practice of these ERP roles are as follows: triage rheumatology 100% FTE (20%) and fractional <100% (46%); triage orthopaedics 100% FTE (6%) and fractional <100% (15%); triage rheumatology and orthopaedics 100% FTE (9 %) and fractional <100% (4%). The patient age-groups treated are adults/seniors (83%), adults and paediatrics (7%), and paediatrics (10%). The ACPAC ERPs currently practise in community-based home care, community-based Rheumatologists’ clinics, telehealth/ECHO, family health teams, hospital-based, visiting Rheumatologist and visiting ERP/fly in models of arthritis care.

Conclusion:

It is important to understand the distribution and nature of practice settings of the highly trained advanced clinician practitioners in arthritis care, and recognize their potential to improve capacity in Rheumatology services delivered through different models of arthritis care. Aside from resource planning, this information is a practical step toward achieving improved connectivity between Rheumatologists and a network of ACPAC program trained ERPs which will ultimately benefit access to arthritis care for patients. Next steps include issuing a Pan-Canadian workforce survey which will explore attributes of all identified non-physician arthritis care specialists (Stand Up and Be Counted Too (2).

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ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/measuring-the-advanced-clinician-practitioner-in-arthritis-care-acpac-program-trained-extended-role-practitioner-erp-workforce-in-canada-a-profile-of-practice-settings-roles-and-participation-in/