Evidence Supports Giving Nurse Practitioners Full Practice Authority [PA]
Posted about 9 years ago by Nicholas M Perrino
"This week the Pennsylvania State Senate's Professional Licensure Committee will vote on a bill (SB 717) that would remove the requirement for nurse practitioners (NPs) to maintain written collaborative agreements with physicians for practice and prescriptive authority. This bill, along with the companion HB 765, has tremendous potential to improve primary care access and delivery in the Commonwealth.
Newly published research from the Center for Health Outcomes & Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing supports the removal of collaborative agreement requirements. This study, partially funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, found that NPs were 13% more likely to work in primary care in states that required no collaborative agreements for practice or prescribing. For Pennsylvania, removing the requirement for collaborative agreements could increase the number of NPs by 13% and lower health care costs by $6.4 billion over the next ten years.
Required collaborative agreements create barriers to optimal use of NPs, who have been shown to provide high-quality, cost-effective care. Without one of these physician contracts, an NP in Pennsylvania cannot practice nor render any healthcare services in an advanced capacity. This results in the loss of that NP as an advanced provider, a loss that is especially impactful in rural areas and other shortage areas.
21 states plus the District of Columbia already allow NPs to practice to the full extent of their licenses and education. Currently, there are 668 bills in state legislatures that aim to modernize NP licensure and remove practice restrictions. Allowing NPs to practice to the full extent of their licensure aligns with national recommendations from the Institute of Medicine, the Federal Trade Commission, the National Governors Association, and most recently, the Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania."