Comparing Use of Low-Value Health Care Services Among U.S. Advanced Practice Clinicians and Physicians

TO THE EDITOR:

I read Mafi and colleagues' article (1) with interest. It comes as little surprise that, with regard to treating such simple conditions as head colds, primary care providers and APCs provide equal amounts of low-quality health care. It doesn't take much training or skill to diagnose a self-limited viral infection. Doing the right thing doesn't require professional training—it requires the will to stick to one's professional guns and refuse to hand out a placebo regimen of antibiotics (or radiographs). So, perhaps this study should be titled “Both Primary Care Providers and APCs Fail the Test of Giving ...