Three reasons to support full practice environments for NPs
Physician Practice Insider, May 31, 2016
Nurse practitioners (NP) can improve outcomes, lower healthcare costs, and expand patient access to care. But only if their practice environments let them.
It's not news that the US is facing a shortage of primary care physicians. According to estimates by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service's Health Resources and Services Administration, by 2020 the nation will by facing a shortage of 20,400 primary care physicians.
The good news is that the organization predicts this gap in primary care could potentially be filled by NPs and physician's assistants. The number of primary care NPs is expected to increase by 30% (from 55,400 in 2010 to 72,100 in 2020) and the primary care physician assistants is projected to increase by 58% (from 27,700 in 2010 to 43,900 in 2020).
As Cindy Cooke, DNP, FNP-C, FAANP, president of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), points out, there's more to solving the primary care provider shortage equation than simply balancing less with more. Scope of practice and licensing issues also need to be addressed. The AANP tracks practice environments.
"Alabama is a collaborative state and I actually worked for the military, so it's a federal property where I can practice to the full scope of my education and training. But as soon as I drive outside of those states, I'm not smart-enough, apparently, to do it again," Cooke says. "To me it's a terrible waste of people. We have the expertise and let's utilize it. The patients are suffering. Access to care is huge."
This article originally appeared on HealthLeaders Media. To view the complete article, click here.
Related Products
Most Popular
- Articles
-
- CMS seeks comment on quality measures
- Practice the six rights of medication administration
- Don't forget the three checks in medication administration
- Note similarities and differences between HCPCS, CPT® codes
- ICD-10-CM coma, stroke codes require more specific documentation
- Nursing responsibilities for managing pain
- OB services: Coding inside and outside of the package
- Q&A: Primary, principal, and secondary diagnoses
- Clearing up the confusion: CPT codes 76376 and 76377
- CMS creates web portal for questions about 1135 waivers, PHE
- E-mailed
-
- Coronavirus vaccination: 4 best practices for communicating with patients
- Grievances, Complaints, and Patients’ Rights
- Including 46600 in E/M leveling systems
- How to get reimbursed for restorative nursing
- Five keys to creating a CHF disease management program
- Fetal non-stress tests represent important part of maternal and fetal health
- Coding, billing, and documentation tips for teaching physicians, interns, residents, and students
- Coding tip: Know how to correctly code each procedure an otolaryngologist can perform on turbinates
- Coding Clinic reiterates guidelines for provider documentation
- CMS creates web portal for questions about 1135 waivers, PHE
- Searched