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Nurse practitioner independence, health care utilization, and health outcomes

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  • Traczynski, Jeffrey
  • Udalova, Victoria

Abstract

Many states allow nurse practitioners (NPs) to practice and prescribe drugs without physician oversight, increasing the number of autonomous primary care providers. We estimate the causal impact of NP independence on population health care utilization rates and health outcomes, exploiting variation in the timing of state law passage. We find that NP independence increases the frequency of routine checkups, improves care quality, and decreases emergency room use by patients with ambulatory care sensitive conditions. These effects come from decreases in administrative costs for physicians and NPs and patients’ indirect costs of accessing medical care.

Suggested Citation

  • Traczynski, Jeffrey & Udalova, Victoria, 2018. "Nurse practitioner independence, health care utilization, and health outcomes," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 90-109.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:58:y:2018:i:c:p:90-109
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2018.01.001
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Sara Markowitz & E. Kathleen Adams, 2020. "The Effects of State Scope of Practice Laws on the Labor Supply of Advanced Practice Registered Nurses," NBER Working Papers 26896, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Chiara Farronato & Andrey Fradkin & Bradley Larsen & Erik Brynjolfsson, 2020. "Consumer Protection in an Online World: An Analysis of Occupational Licensing," NBER Working Papers 26601, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Lee Mobley & Tzy-Mey Kuo & Jeffrey Traczynski & Victoria Udalova & HE Frech, 2014. "Macro-level factors impacting geographic disparities in cancer screening," Health Economics Review, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 1-15, December.
    4. Alexander, Diane & Schnell, Molly, 2019. "Just what the nurse practitioner ordered: Independent prescriptive authority and population mental health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 145-162.
    5. Anca M. Grecu & Lee C. Spector, 2019. "Nurse practitioner's independent prescriptive authority and opioids abuse," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(10), pages 1220-1225, October.

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