Schedule PAs and NPs alongside your ED physicians
Updated October 8, 2026 · 2 min read
In Capillary, each shift is marked for a physician or an advanced practice provider (APP), and only a physician assistant (PA) or nurse practitioner (NP) can fill an APP shift. APP shifts get the same checks as physician shifts: no overlaps, and at least the group's minimum rest, including shifts at another site.
Where APPs fit in ED coverage
In a 2021 national survey of academic emergency medicine chairs, 98% of responding departments employed PAs or NPs. Among those departments, 86% had APPs working in fast track, 80% in the main ED and 54% in the waiting room.
In one national emergency medicine group's records from 94 EDs (2014 to 2018), PAs saw 18.6% of visits on their own and NPs 5.4%, about a quarter between them.
On the schedule, that can mean a separate line of APP shifts, such as a midday fast-track shift laid over the physician day, evening and night.
Mon
07:00 MD Chen
10:00 APP Park
15:00 MD Shah
23:00 MD Bell
Tue
07:00 MD Ruiz
10:00 APP Nguyen
15:00 MD Kim
23:00 MD Morgan
- Day
- Evening
- Night
- APP
How Capillary handles APP shifts
- The roster records each person's role: MD or DO for physicians, PA or NP for APPs. Type it in, or import a CSV and review every row.
- You lay out coverage by date range and mark each shift for physicians or APPs.
- When you assign an APP shift, only PAs and NPs fit. If a shift and the person on it don't match, saving stops and names the shift.
- Minimum rest and the overlap check apply to APPs exactly as to physicians, including published shifts at another site.
- APPs send requests and time off before the due date, see their shifts in their phone calendar, and trade with other APPs under the same checks.
Worked example: a fast-track PA
| Shift | Time | Role | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day | 07:00 to 15:00 | Physician | 8 h |
| Fast track | 10:00 to 20:00 | APP | 10 h |
| Evening | 15:00 to 23:00 | Physician | 8 h |
| Night | 23:00 to 07:00 | Physician | 8 h |
From 10:00 to 20:00, two clinicians are on: a physician and the fast-track APP. Say your minimum rest is 12 hours. A PA who closes fast track at 20:00 on Tuesday and opens it at 10:00 on Wednesday has 14 hours off, so the save goes through.
Now say the same PA works a night at your group's second ED, 23:00 Monday to 07:00 Tuesday, and that site's schedule is published in Capillary. Tuesday's fast-track shift would start 3 hours after the night ends, so saving stops and names the shift and the rule.
What it does not do yet
- A physician can't fill a shift marked APP, or the reverse. If a physician covers fast track one day, add that day's shift as a physician shift.
- Minimum rest is one number for the whole department. You can't yet set a different rest rule for APPs.
- It does not track which physician works with each APP, and it does not handle billing.
- It schedules physicians and APPs, not nurses, techs or scribes.
Try it
The demo shows a full sample month with a 10:00 to 20:00 fast-track APP shift beside the physician shifts, and it needs no account. To build your own, sign in or create an account and add your roster.
Common questions
- Can a PA and an NP trade shifts with each other?
- Yes. Both are in the APP role, so either can swap or give away an APP shift, with rest and overlap checked before anyone agrees.
- Can APPs track their own hours and fatigue?
- Yes. Any clinician can bring in a schedule and see hours, nights, quick returns and fatigue in My hours and Analytics, privately.
Build your ED schedule with rest checked on every save.
Capillary checks role, overlapping shifts and rest, including shifts at other sites, before anything is published or traded.