The Impact of Nurse Practitioner Scope-of-Practice on Access to Primary Care

Due to a possible shortage in primary care physicians and rising health care costs, access to primary care may become limited. Some state governments have addressed this issue by allowing Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) to serve the population without the supervision of physicians. About half of the states permit nurse practitioners (NPs) to practice and/or prescribe drugs without physician supervision or collaboration. NPs in primary care charge lower prices than physicians and provide satisfactory quality of care, supported by existent literature. Moreover, increasing the number of NPs could alleviate access problems from a low supply of physicians. This paper focuses on access to health care and addresses what the impact of NP SOP regulations on access to primary health care in areas characterized by a relatively low supply of primary care physicians is.