[4] In 2016, a new mid-level healthcare provider role was introduced in India(Dealing With modern Medicine), known as Community Health Officer (CHO) or Nurse Practitioner, Physician Associate/Assistant.
According to these guidelines, symptomatic cases can be triaged at village level by tele-consultation with a Physician Associate/Assistant or a Community Health Officer (CHO).
Historically there has been debate over the consistency of quality in these senior clinicians and therefore it became necessary to generate a distinguished definition of the ACP role.
The deployment of ACPs is considered to be part of a Value Based Recruitment framework driven by Health Education England (HEE)[citation needed].
This seeks to appoint clinicians based upon their competencies, values and behaviours in support of collaborative working and delivering excellent patient care.
In the United States, mid-level practitioners are health care workers with training less than that of a physician but greater than that of nurses or medical assistants.
In recent years some organizations and specialties have proposed the discontinuance of the term mid-level in reference to professional practitioners who are not physicians.
*preferred even over physician assistant, which was what the acronym historically stood for The term mid-level practitioner as found in the DEA classification in Section 1300.01(b28), Title 21, of the Code of Federal Regulations is used as a means of organizing drug diversion activities.
The term mid-level practitioner as defined by the DEA Office of Diversion Control, "...means an individual practitioner, other than a physician, dentist, veterinarian, or podiatrist, who is licensed, registered, or otherwise permitted by the United States or the jurisdiction in which he/she practices, to dispense a controlled substance in the course of professional practice.