Earlier this year, the president of BlueSky, Tim Teague, asked the following question in this article: “Will your new doctor be a nurse?”
Well, the debate over the future role of nurse practitioners has continued in the medical community given the projections of a looming physician shortfall.
This New York Times article breaks down the growing resentment between primary care physicians and nurse practitioners as questions linger about the future of health care in America:
“Analyzing questionnaires completed by almost 1,000 physicians and nurse practitioners, researchers did find that almost all of the doctors and nurses believed that nurse practitioners should be able to practice to the full extent of their training and that their inclusion in primary care would improve the timeliness of and access to care.
But the agreement ended there. Nurse practitioners believed that they could lead primary care practices and admit patients to a hospital and that they deserved to earn the same amount as doctors for the same work. The physicians disagreed. Many of the doctors said that they provided higher-quality care than their nursing counterparts and that increasing the number of nurse practitioners in primary care would not necessarily improve safety, effectiveness, equity or quality.
A third of the doctors went so far as to state that nurse practitioners would have a detrimental effect on the safety and effectiveness of care.”
Meanwhile, one state, Kentucky, is tackling the issue with a new phenomenon known as “telemedicine” according to a piece from the Associated Press that appeared in the Insurance Journal. Its emergence is expected to help with a lack of accessibility to care centers:
“Telemedicine is seen as a way to help deal with doctor shortages, especially in rural areas and especially with another 600,000 people in the state who are expected to join insurance rolls in health exchanges and or through expanded Medicaid coverage, according to a report by The (Louisville) Courier-Journal.”
Elizabeth Hayes of the Business Journal reported on the state of Oregon’s laws regarding the roles of NPs:
“Oregon is one of the most liberal states when it comes to nurse practitioner responsibilities and pay. Unlike many states, nurse practitioners in Oregon can write prescriptions and own their own business. They can also make diagnoses, order lab work and refer patients to specialists.”
The issue of physician shortages has presented the healthcare industry with a unique problem, one that might take several different courses as leaders search for a solution.
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