Re: States with the least restrictive regulations experienced the largest increase in patients seen by nurse practitioners

摘要

Editorial Comment: The scope of practice of allied health professionals is one of the most controversial health policy topics in medicine today. This subject is particularly relevant to urology, since our specialty is increasingly leveraging nurse practitioners and physician assistants to support our practices. This study used the 5% Medicare sample to document that from 1998 to 2010 the number of Medicare patients receiving care from nurse practitioners increased fifteenfold. Even more interesting (although not surprising) is that states with the least restrictive regulations on allied health professionals had the largest increases. While many urologists see the increasing role of these allied health professionals as a threat, I see this as an irreversible trend. To this end, it is incumbent on us, as the physicians who are ultimately responsible for the overall quality of urological care in the United States, to ensure that these allied health professionals are properly trained in the basics of our field.