States With The Least Restrictive Regulations Experienced The Largest Increase In Patients Seen By Nurse Practitioners

The use of nurse practitioners (NPs) is one way to address the shortage of physician primary care providers. NP training programs and the number of practicing NPs have increased in the past two decades. However, regulations limiting their scope of practice vary greatly by state. We assessed the impact of state regulations on the increase in care provided by NPs in the United States, using a 5 percent national sample of Medicare beneficiaries. We...