The Role Of Nurse Practitioners In Reinventing Primary Care

Abstract

Nurse practitioners are the principal group of advanced-practice nurses delivering primary care in the United States. We reviewed the current and projected nurse practitioner workforce, and we summarize the available evidence of their contributions to improving primary care and reducing more costly health resource use. We recommend that nurse practice acts--the state laws governing how nurses may practice--be standardized, that equivalent reimbursement be paid for comparable services regardless of practitioner, and that performance results be publicly reported to maximize the high-quality care that nurse practitioners provide.

Primary Care Physician Shortages Could Be Eliminated Through Use Of Teams, Nonphysicians, And Electronic Communication

“…17 Several studies have explored these practitioners' ability to handle a sizable portion of primary care visits. [18][19][20] In this article we show that estimates of primary care physician shortages can be mitigated or even eliminated by operational practices that are becoming more common. These practices can be adopted even more broadly as physician practices increase in size, medical homes emerge, the use of alternative care providers increases, and health information technology advances.…”

Nurse Practitioners in Physician Practices: Implications for Member Satisfaction

“…Nurse practitioners (NPs) represent the single largest group of Model 3: Member characteristics, PCP characteristics and any NP All models use robust standard errors to account for heteroscedasticity advanced practice nurses in the U.S., numbering approximately 180,000, with approximately 144,000 practicing in primary care settings [27]. As the health care landscape continues to change, so does the role of NPs, and a growing body of literature has highlighted their role and functions [27][28][29][30][31].…”

“…As the health care landscape continues to change, so does the role of NPs, and a growing body of literature has highlighted their role and functions [27][28][29][30][31]. In general, existing studies suggest that patient satisfaction with the quality of care provided by NPs is equal to or higher than patient satisfaction with quality of care provided by physicians [32][33][34][35].…”

Resources and Capabilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs to Provide Timely and Accessible Care to Veterans

“…Data also suggest that APNs can function effectively as physician substitutes in VA primary care given similarities in the patterns of patient encounter characteristics across provider types (Morgan et al, 2012). In addition, a substantial body of literature shows that important health outcomesincluding disease-specific physiologic measures, reduction of symptomatology, mortality, hospitalization and other utilization measures, and patient satisfaction-are comparable between patients served by APNs and those served by physicians Horrocks, Anderson, & Salisbury, 2002;Laurant et al, 2009;Laurant et al, 2005;Mundinger et al, 2000;Naylor & Kurtzman, 2010;Wilson et al, 2005).…”