Efficient and effective models for integrating advanced practice professionals into oncology practice.

Advanced practice professionals (APP), primarily nurse practitioners and physician assistants, are increasingly being integrated into oncology practices. The reasons are numerous, and models of care options are numerous as well. Models of care have developed without much forethought and are often the result of the relative interests of the physician, the APP, and the mutual "comfort" of practice style. The increasing complexity of oncology care, the pressures of the health care crisis and health care reform mean that it is necessary that we examine models of collaborative care in terms of both quality of care and productivity.