Greater reliance on physician assistants (PA) and nurse practitioners (NP) is seen as one way to ameliorate the widening primary care physician shortage. However, data suggest that less than half of all PAs currently practice primary care and nearly half of NPs practice outside primary care,...
Three pieces of legislation related to expanding allied health practitioners’ scope of practice—Senate Bill (SB) 491, SB492, and SB493—have met differing fates in California State Assembly committees. Senate Bill 491, which would allow nurse practitioners to practice without physician oversight...
As the debate over increasing nurse practitioners’ (NP) scope of responsibility intensifies, a new study published in the July issue of Health Affairs found that easing state guidelines limiting scope of practice can ease the impact of the shortage of primary care physicians.
When reviewing compliance regarding FPPE/OPPE, we find some issues result from a fragmented approach to the privileging process. Although many facilities have successfully implemented FPPE/OPPE requirements, some facilities are still troubled by the proverbial round peg in the square hole.
Members of the U.S. Senate Rural Health Caucus have introduced a bill that would allow general supervision by physician or nonphysician providers (NPPs) for many outpatient therapy services, politicalnews.me reported. S.1143, the Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, counters...