Skip to content
ng_head-removebg-preview
  • Find a School
  • Programs
Menu
  • Find a School
  • Programs
ng_head-removebg-preview
  • Find a School
  • Programs
    • CNA Training
    • Medical Assistant Programs
    • LPN Schools
    • RN Degrees
    • MSN Degrees
    • Nursing Master’s Specialties
    • Nurse Practitioner Programs
    • DNP Degrees
    • Doctoral Nursing Concentrations
  • Blog
ng head removebg preview 2 80x80 - The Importance of Nurse Practitioners in Health Care Reform

Schools

Programs

Find Programs
by Zip Code

Enter your zip code to see schools.

The Importance of Nurse Practitioners in Health Care Reform

There are approximately 50 million uninsured Americans. As the Affordable Healthcare Act goes into effect over the next several years, many of those people will qualify for coverage. It’s predicted that nearly 30 million people in the United States will be looking for healthcare providers within the next two years. California alone is expected to have almost 7 million people seeking doctors. It is likely that primary care physicians will not be able to cope with this surge in patients. The number of primary care physicians has been declining for years as doctors choose to pursue higher paying specialties. This shortage is already being felt nationwide and an increased demand is going to exacerbate this problem. Particularly strained regions may face the possibility of long waiting periods and lowered standards of care.

The solution to this looming problem may lay with nurse practitioners and nurse practitioner run clinics. Nurse practitioners are trained to provide comprehensive primary medical care. They are trained to handle preventative and acute healthcare needs including: conducting physicals, reading lab results and X-rays, prescribing medication, and diagnosing a variety of health concerns. Nurse practitioners have completed post-graduate degrees and are registered nurses. Not only can they provide the same primary healthcare as physicians, there is an increasing number of nurse practitioners. Federal employment statistics show that there were over 160,000 nurse practitioners as of 2008, and the field continues to grow.

Nurse practitioner-run clinics provide a promising outlook for utilizing nurse practitioners to meet primary care demands in undeserved communities. These clinics offer affordable comprehensive primary care services. There are nearly 300 such clinics operating across the country. Currently, about 20 of these clinics receive funds from a special government program to provide affordable care in such communities. Studies show that these clinics improve community health, provide a high standard of care, and result in high levels of patient satisfaction. A 2009 Rand Corporation report found that nurse practitioners provide care equivalent to primary care physicians and exceed physicians in promoting health services and education. These clinics also save taxpayer dollars. Not only are nurse practitioner salaries lower than physicians’, their availability in low income communities reduce reliance on emergency room visits. Those without comprehensive healthcare options have historically used costly emergency room services for non-emergency healthcare needs. This becomes less necessary as the acute healthcare services offered by these clinics provide an affordable alternative.

One such clinic is GLIDE Health Services in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco. This clinic is staffed by nurse practitioners and specialists. It meets the majority of medical needs for over 3,000 people in the community. It provides primary and preventive care, mental health services, and HIV testing. They serve a community that deals with the health problems resulting from substance abuse and poverty. Despite these challenges, this clinic sees results comparable to physician-based comprehensive care. They connect well with their community and find that patients follow through with their recommended treatment and checkups for chronic conditions like diabetes.

Nurse-practitioner clinics provide an efficient and affordable model of care, particularly during this transitional period of healthcare reform. A recent report entitled ‘The Future of Nursing’ issued by Institute of Medicine, of the National Academy of Sciences, called for nurse to be full partners with physicians in redesigning U.S. healthcare. These clinics show that nurse-practitioners are ready to heed that call, but there are still major obstacles to expanding nurse practitioner-run primary care services. Medicare, Medi-Cal, and California-based programs to provide coverage for the uninsured have contracted with nurse-practitioners for primary care services. Despite this, real expansion of nurse practitioner as primary care providers is being limited by large private health plan companies. These managed care organizations are reticent to contract with nurse practitioners. Despite nurse-practitioners’ qualifications and proven success providing primary care services equivalent to physicians, these companies require physician supervision for billed nurse-practitioner services. A study by the National Nursing Centers Consortium established about half of such companies maintain this stance.

Properly utilizing nurse-practitioners will help ensure patients have quality access to primary care providers and amending state insurance codes is the first step toward that goal. For example, California currently only requires these private insurance companies contract nurse practitioners as primary care providers in cases involving Medicare and Medi-Cal. Changing this to encompass all coverage would help remove the obstacles facing nurse practitioner-based care. This, and other such reforms, would greatly improve rates for access to primary care providers.

  • Training the Next Generation of Primary Care Providers
  • Nurse Practitioners and California Community Clinics
  • Rising Number of Nurse Practitioners Providing Primary Care
  • Nurse Practitioners and the Future of Primary Care
Stay Informed
More Resources
A Kid’s Guide to Being a Nurse

Nursing is an important job in the field of medicine. Nurses are responsible for treating and caring for patients, while supporting doctor’s efforts. There are

Read More »
Juvenile Diabetes and Your Child’s Health

When people hear the term Diabetes, they generally think of one type of the medical condition. In reality, there are three types of diabetes. Type

Read More »
Bioethics: Ethical Questions of Biology and Medicine

Bioethics is a relatively new field of scientific study. Bioethics deals with the relationship of biology and medicine, and the ethical dilemmas that scientist’s face.

Read More »
Nursing School Survival Tips

Nursing school is defined as a kind of educational institute where training and education to become a full-fledged nurse is provided. Across the globe, the

Read More »
Why the Metaparadigm is Necessary to Nurse Theory Construction

The metaparadigm of nursing is comprised of four parts: person, health, environment, and nursing. This concept is important to nursing theory, because those 4 parts

Read More »
Guide to Choosing the Right Nursing Home

One of the toughest decisions that a family faces, is what to do when relatives get older and are not able to care for themselves? When

Read More »
ng head removebg preview 2 80x80 - The Importance of Nurse Practitioners in Health Care Reform

Empowering people to heal the world.

Twitter
Facebook-f
Pinterest
Instagram

Entry-Level Programs

  • CNA Training
  • Medical Assistant Programs
  • LPN Programs
  • RN Degrees
  • Associate's Degree in Nursing
  • Bachelor's Degree in Nursing
  • Nursing Salaries
  • CNA Procedures

Advanced Nursing Degrees

  • Master's Degree in Nursing
  • DNP Degrees
  • RN to BSN Degrees
  • RN to MSN Degrees
  • Nurse Practitioner Programs
  • Dual Master's Degree Programs
  • All Nursing Master's Programs
  • All Nursing Doctoral Programs

More Healthcare Careers

  • Phlebotomy Programs
  • EMT / Paramedic Programs
  • Radiation Therapy Programs
  • Radiography Programs
  • Ultrasound Tech Programs
  • Physician Assistant Programs
Made with ❤ NurseGroups © All rights reserved
  • Home
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • FAQ
Menu
  • Home
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • FAQ
  • Nursing Assistant
  • Practical Nursing
  • Medical Assisting
  • Registered Nursing
  • MSN Degrees
  • Nurse Practitioner
  • DNP Degrees
  • Graduate Concentrations

Find CNA Programs in Your State

  • Alabama
  • Alaska
  • Arizona
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Connecticut
  • Delaware
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Hawaii
  • Idaho
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Maine
  • Maryland
  • Massachusetts
  • Michigan
  • Minnesota
  • Mississippi
  • Missouri
  • Montana
  • Nebraska
  • Nevada
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New Mexico
  • New York
  • North Carolina
  • North Dakota
  • Ohio
  • Oklahoma
  • Oregon
  • Pennsylvania
  • Rhode Island
  • South Carolina
  • South Dakota
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Utah
  • Vermont
  • Virginia
  • Washington
  • West Virginia
  • Wisconsin
  • Wyoming
  • Washington DC

Find LPN/LVN Programs in Your State

  • Alabama
  • Alaska
  • Arizona
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Connecticut
  • Delaware
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Hawaii
  • Idaho
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Maine
  • Maryland
  • Massachusetts
  • Michigan
  • Minnesota
  • Mississippi
  • Missouri
  • Montana
  • Nebraska
  • Nevada
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New Mexico
  • New York
  • North Carolina
  • North Dakota
  • Ohio
  • Oklahoma
  • Oregon
  • Pennsylvania
  • Rhode Island
  • South Carolina
  • South Dakota
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Utah
  • Vermont
  • Virginia
  • Washington
  • West Virginia
  • Wisconsin
  • Wyoming
  • Washington DC

Find Medical Assisting Programs in Your State

  • Alabama
  • Alaska
  • Arizona
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Connecticut
  • Delaware
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Hawaii
  • Idaho
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Maine
  • Maryland
  • Massachusetts
  • Michigan
  • Minnesota
  • Mississippi
  • Missouri
  • Montana
  • Nebraska
  • Nevada
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New Mexico
  • New York
  • North Carolina
  • North Dakota
  • Ohio
  • Oklahoma
  • Oregon
  • Pennsylvania
  • Rhode Island
  • South Carolina
  • South Dakota
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Utah
  • Vermont
  • Virginia
  • Washington
  • West Virginia
  • Wisconsin
  • Wyoming
  • Washington DC

Find RN Programs in Your State

  • Alabama
  • Alaska
  • Arizona
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Connecticut
  • Delaware
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Hawaii
  • Idaho
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Maine
  • Maryland
  • Massachusetts
  • Michigan
  • Minnesota
  • Mississippi
  • Missouri
  • Montana
  • Nebraska
  • Nevada
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New Mexico
  • New York
  • North Carolina
  • North Dakota
  • Ohio
  • Oklahoma
  • Oregon
  • Pennsylvania
  • Rhode Island
  • South Carolina
  • South Dakota
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Utah
  • Vermont
  • Virginia
  • Washington
  • West Virginia
  • Wisconsin
  • Wyoming
  • Washington DC

Find MSN Programs in Your State

  • Alabama
  • Alaska
  • Arizona
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Connecticut
  • Delaware
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Hawaii
  • Idaho
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Maine
  • Maryland
  • Massachusetts
  • Michigan
  • Minnesota
  • Mississippi
  • Missouri
  • Montana
  • Nebraska
  • Nevada
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New Mexico
  • New York
  • North Carolina
  • North Dakota
  • Ohio
  • Oklahoma
  • Oregon
  • Pennsylvania
  • Rhode Island
  • South Carolina
  • South Dakota
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Utah
  • Vermont
  • Virginia
  • Washington
  • West Virginia
  • Wisconsin
  • Wyoming
  • Washington DC

Find NP Programs in Your State

  • Alabama
  • Alaska
  • Arizona
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Connecticut
  • Delaware
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Hawaii
  • Idaho
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Maine
  • Maryland
  • Massachusetts
  • Michigan
  • Minnesota
  • Mississippi
  • Missouri
  • Montana
  • Nebraska
  • Nevada
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New Mexico
  • New York
  • North Carolina
  • North Dakota
  • Ohio
  • Oklahoma
  • Oregon
  • Pennsylvania
  • Rhode Island
  • South Carolina
  • South Dakota
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Utah
  • Vermont
  • Virginia
  • Washington
  • West Virginia
  • Wisconsin
  • Wyoming
  • Washington DC

Find DNP Programs in Your State

  • Alabama
  • Alaska
  • Arizona
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Connecticut
  • Delaware
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Hawaii
  • Idaho
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Maine
  • Maryland
  • Massachusetts
  • Michigan
  • Minnesota
  • Mississippi
  • Missouri
  • Montana
  • Nebraska
  • Nevada
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New Mexico
  • New York
  • North Carolina
  • North Dakota
  • Ohio
  • Oklahoma
  • Oregon
  • Pennsylvania
  • Rhode Island
  • South Carolina
  • South Dakota
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Utah
  • Vermont
  • Virginia
  • Washington
  • West Virginia
  • Wisconsin
  • Wyoming
  • Washington DC

Graduate-Level Concentrations

  • All Nursing Master's Programs
  • Dual Master's Degrees
  • All Nursing Doctoral Programs