Advanced Practice Providers (APPs), including nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and certified registered nurse anesthetists, have moved from “nice to have” to absolutely essential in the healthcare workforce. In 2026, the conversation is not about whether APPs matter. It is about how fast organizations can scale them.
At CoreMedical Group, APP growth is a strategic priority and not an afterthought. APPs sit at the intersection of access, quality, and continuity, and our clients increasingly rely on them as the backbone of care delivery across inpatient, outpatient, rural, and virtual settings. CoreMedical Group’s insight hub, Healthcare Employer Insights, reflects more than a decade of staffing experience and thought leadership on workforce solutions. See the full insights library at CoreMedical Group employer insights.
If physicians are the anchor of care delivery, APPs are the engine. CoreMedical Group is investing heavily in making sure that engine runs smoothly, efficiently, and with clinical excellence.
Why CoreMedical Group is all-in on APPs
Every indicator points in the same direction; physician shortages remain a defining challenge for U.S. healthcare. The Association of American Medical Colleges projects continued physician shortfalls under multiple supply-and-demand scenarios, with estimates of up to 86,000 fewer physicians by 2036. These shortages have intensified in both primary care and specialty areas, lengthening wait times and stretching clinician capacity.
Meanwhile, according to the quarterly Physician Flash Report from Kaufman Hall, a Vizient company, shows that APP roles are among the fastest-growing segments in healthcare. The US Bureau of Labor Statics analyses indicate that nurse practitioner employment could expand by more than 40 percent from 2024 to 2034, well above the national average for all occupations. This growth reflects demographic shifts, complex chronic disease trends, and the growing demand for care outside traditional hospital walls.
Taken together, these trends mean that APPs are no longer supplemental. They are core clinical providers. For health systems aiming to stabilize care delivery, improve patient access, and strengthen continuity, APPs are foundational. CoreMedical Group is building its strategy accordingly.
APPs as anchors of modern care and CoreMedical Group’s specialized approach
APPs are stepping into high-impact roles across diverse service lines, including emergency and hospitalist services, oncology, orthopedics and surgical subspecialties, cardiology, behavioral health, rural primary care, telemedicine, and home-based transitional care. These are not filler roles. These are leadership positions in patient access, continuity, and care navigation.
For this reason, CoreMedical Group has developed specialized APP recruiting rooted in deep clinical understanding. Our teams include people who know state-based scope-of-practice variations, autonomy expectations, clinical specialty nuances, preferred care settings, team structures and supervisory requirements, licensing complexity, and facility culture. APPs choose partners who understand their work. Clients choose partners who can match them well. CoreMedical Group sits right in the middle with intention, expertise, and care.
Credentialing for APPs: Where CoreMedical Group’s in-house team makes the difference
Credentialing for APPs is uniquely complex. Requirements vary across states, healthcare systems, and specialties. Depending on setting and role, APPs may need detailed case logs, collaborative practice agreements, state-specific credentialing documentation, privileging variations, and additional procedural or specialty approvals.
This complexity is precisely why CoreMedical Group’s on-shore, in-house credentialing team is critical to workforce success. We do not outsource credentialing, push files offshore, or compromise on accuracy. Instead, our credentialing team brings real-time communication, speed without sacrificing detail, familiarity with APP complexities, direct clinician support, consistent human oversight, and a strong understanding of medical staff professional (MSP) and facility needs.
Technology organizes the workflow, but humans ensure it is safe, correct, compliant, and compassionate. This approach aligns with the CoreMedical Group emphasis on quality healthcare staffing solutions as reflected in our Employer Insights resource library.
APPs and locum tenens: A smarter, more flexible workforce model
APPs have become one of the fastest-growing segments within locum tenens staffing. Hospitals and health systems use APP locums to expand access in rural and frontier regions, provide specialty coverage, maintain continuity during physician shortages, stabilize high-volume service lines, support telehealth and hybrid models, cover surge or seasonal demand, and reduce clinician burnout by distributing workload more evenly.
Locum tenens staffing has traditionally been physician-dominated. Now APPs are reshaping the model. APP locums create workforce flexibility without compromising quality, giving systems a dependable way to keep services open, stabilize patient flow, and maintain high standards of care.
The future belongs to organizations that invest in APPs now
APP demand will continue rising due to multiple forces, including expanding scope-of-practice laws, deepening physician shortages, growth in telemedicine, home-based care models, rural access challenges, rising continuity-of-care expectations, and an aging population with complex needs.
Hospitals and clinics are no longer asking, “Should we use APPs?” They are asking, “How do we scale APPs intelligently, sustainably, and quickly?” CoreMedical Group is doubling down on solutions that answer this question with strategic workforce planning, credentialing excellence, and clinician partnership.
Bottom line
APPs are not supporting characters in modern healthcare. They are the cornerstone of access, quality, and system stability.
At CoreMedical Group, we are committed to:
- Building specialized APP pipelines
- Delivering credentialing excellence with our in-house team
- Supporting both locum tenens and long-term APP roles
- Strengthening clinician experience with a human-first approach
- Providing clients with flexible, future-ready APP workforce strategies
APPs are powering the next era of healthcare delivery, and CoreMedical Group is all-in on leading that evolution with excellence and intention.
