Physician Assistant providers in the U.S.
163,889 NPPES records list physician assistant as their primary taxonomy, about 49 per 100,000 residents; North Carolina and District of Columbia have the most per resident. 101,058 of them appear in the Medicare Part D prescriber file: a registry record is not proof of an active practice.
What taxonomy code 363A00000X means
363A00000X is the National Uniform Claim Committee code for Physician Assistant, in the grouping Physician Assistants & Advanced Practice Nursing Providers. 163,889 NPPES records list it as their primary taxonomy (file of Aug 9, 2026).
A physician assistant is a person who has successfully completed an accredited education program for physician assistant, is licensed by the state and is practicing within the scope of that license. Physician assistants are formally trained to perform many of the routine, time-consuming tasks a physician can do. In some states, they may prescribe medications. They take medical histories, perform physical exams, order lab tests and x-rays, and give inoculations. Most states require that they work under the supervision of a physician.
Source: NUCC Health Care Provider Taxonomy code set, definition as NUCC publishes it (nucc.org); counts from CMS NPPES.
Most per resident: the 8 highest
Source: CMS NPPES, primary taxonomy 363A00000X by practice state, file of Aug 9, 2026; records per 100,000 residents, 2023 Census estimates.
New York has the most, 3,108
Source: CMS NPPES, primary taxonomy 363A00000X by practice city, file of Aug 9, 2026.
All 51 by state
| State | Records | Per 100,000 |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 1,148 | 23 |
| Alaska | 542 | 74 |
| Arizona | 3,666 | 49 |
| Arkansas | 599 | 20 |
| California | 14,451 | 37 |
| Colorado | 3,767 | 64 |
| Connecticut | 2,047 | 57 |
| Delaware | 695 | 67 |
| District of Columbia | 558 | 82 |
| Florida | 10,257 | 45 |
| Georgia | 4,662 | 42 |
| Hawaii | 387 | 27 |
| Idaho | 1,250 | 64 |
| Illinois | 4,926 | 39 |
| Indiana | 2,419 | 35 |
| Iowa | 1,525 | 48 |
| Kansas | 1,329 | 45 |
| Kentucky | 1,958 | 43 |
| Louisiana | 1,556 | 34 |
| Maine | 979 | 70 |
| Maryland | 3,224 | 52 |
| Massachusetts | 4,713 | 67 |
| Michigan | 6,989 | 70 |
| Minnesota | 4,007 | 70 |
| Mississippi | 338 | 12 |
| Missouri | 1,790 | 29 |
| State | Records | Per 100,000 |
|---|---|---|
| Montana | 698 | 62 |
| Nebraska | 1,352 | 68 |
| Nevada | 1,083 | 34 |
| New Hampshire | 947 | 68 |
| New Jersey | 3,393 | 37 |
| New Mexico | 847 | 40 |
| New York | 15,555 | 80 |
| North Carolina | 9,279 | 86 |
| North Dakota | 464 | 59 |
| Ohio | 5,325 | 45 |
| Oklahoma | 1,870 | 46 |
| Oregon | 2,094 | 50 |
| Pennsylvania | 8,020 | 62 |
| Rhode Island | 683 | 62 |
| South Carolina | 2,294 | 43 |
| South Dakota | 674 | 73 |
| Tennessee | 3,055 | 43 |
| Texas | 10,999 | 36 |
| Utah | 1,887 | 55 |
| Vermont | 321 | 50 |
| Virginia | 4,408 | 51 |
| Washington | 3,718 | 48 |
| West Virginia | 1,145 | 65 |
| Wisconsin | 3,475 | 59 |
| Wyoming | 260 | 45 |
In federal data
- NUCC code363A00000X
- Size rank9th of 688 specialties by records (2.24% of all)
- Part D prescribers101,058 (61.7% of records)
- Part D claims830 a year per prescriber, on average (99th of 496)
- Industry payments64,719 physicians paid $54.5M in 2024, $842 each on average
- Concentration9 states hold half of all records
Source: CMS NPPES; Medicare Part D Prescriber PUF; CMS Open Payments 2024. Presence in these files is not a quality judgment.
A sample of physician assistant records
- Blake Shahlaie, PA-CBethel, AK1346805454
- Mitchell Andreas, PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTFort Wainwright, AK1205301421
- John Riley, PAAnchorage, AK1922180413
- Jill Johnson, PA-CAnchorage, AK1861574493
- Craig SinkAnchorage, AK1811045552
- Edward Hall, PA-CAnchorage, AK1528196573
- Jeffrey Brooke, PA-CAnchorage, AK1235342759
- Tae Ok, PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTAnchorage, AK1538361522
- Hope Zachman, P.A.Anchorage, AK1710157458
- Kevin Luppen, PA-CAnchorage, AK1255563094
- Kimberly Dahm, PA-CAnchorage, AK1316341142
- Jennifer Blackwell, MPAS, PA-CAnchorage, AK1558733493
- Kimberley Turner, PA-CAnchorage, AK1003264052
- Shaddin Tirhi, PA-CAnchorage, AK1073095055
- Kelsey Cain, PA-CAnchorage, AK1518516095
- Gregory Hau, PAAnchorage, AK1265191522
Registry order, not a ranking. Search by name to find one provider.
Common questions
Where does the large Physician Assistant headcount concentrate?
163,889 Physician Assistant NPIs span 56 states; New York alone holds 15,555. Top metros include New York, NY; Houston, TX; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL. Nationally this is 9th of 688 NUCC codes.
How large is Physician Assistant's Open Payments footprint?
CMS Open Payments 2024 lists 64,719 Physician Assistant physicians totaling $54.5M (1,285,840 payments; average $842, 247th of 470). Presence in Open Payments is not a quality judgment.
How heavy is Physician Assistant Part D prescribing at scale?
Among Physician Assistant NPIs, 101,058 appear in the Medicare Part D Prescriber PUF (average 830 claims and $133K drug cost per prescriber; 99th of 496 specialties by average claims). Non-prescribing clinicians in the same NUCC code are still in NPPES.
Source: CMS National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES), file of Aug 9, 2026 (NPPES files on CMS.gov); NUCC Health Care Provider Taxonomy (nucc.org); Medicare Part D Prescriber PUF; CMS Open Payments 2024. Counts are self-designated primary taxonomy, not board certification.
Figures on PlainDoctor are read from the federal files each page names (CMS NPPES, Medicare Part D, MIPS, Open Payments; the HHS-OIG exclusion list only as counts) and from Census population estimates, with the file date shown beside them. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of Aug 9, 2026.