Impact of non-physician providers on spatial accessibility to primary care in Iowa.

Posted: July 13th, 2022

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With a shortage of physicians as primary care providers, non-physician providers have taken the spotlight in providing healthcare services. The number of non-physicians practitioners has also greatly increased since most clients prefer to be serviced by them rather than physicians since the NPP are cheaper as they reduce the overhead and direct costs of the practice (Weldon, 2014). They do so by providing services at lower costs per labor compared to physicians in hospitals, long-term care organizations, and hospitals. Therefore, NPP services facilitate reduced health service costs which are beneficial to patients and the U.S healthcare system since most people can now afford healthcare with minimal complications. Affording healthcare services has been a great challenge for a majority of U.S citizens, but the NPP is rectifying the issue and improving the healthcare system.
The non-physician providers also increase quality since most NPPs are obtaining advanced degrees, making them better trained and increasing their expertise. The reason for the increased need to obtain advanced degrees among NPP members is the high competition that the industry faces (Walden, 2014). The high competition requires more expertise, experience, and knowledge of medical practices, increasing quality. Moreover, NPPs spend more time with patients in comparison to physicians, thus enhancing quality patient care and preference. Although this may not be as pleasant for physicians because patients prefer to turn to NPPs, quality is a significant factor in healthcare both for the system and the clients. Therefore, NPPs enhance quality in the healthcare system.
Additionally, NPPs increase accessibility in the healthcare system because they create greater access and appointment availability, thus increasing efficiency in the healthcare system. Moreover, most patients that have undergone the care of NPPs claim to have been greatly satisfied and at a lower cost, encouraging others to consider the same (Young et al., 2020). Also, the increase in the number of Non-physician practitioners has enabled higher accessibility to healthcare services since they get access to numerous options around them. This is a great development in the U.S healthcare system.
Various possible changes to the scope of practice regulations for advanced practice RNs could help reduce the issue of health worker shortages. For instance, the increased extensive training programs and the level of prestige for advanced practice registered nurses can help reduce the health worker shortage. This is primarily because they gain the capability to perform multiple advanced medical roles that would have otherwise been performed by physicians or specialists (Ortiz, 2018). Additionally, through a transformation of policy work in the sector, the advanced practice nurses can influence processes and standards to assure worker satisfaction, reducing health worker turnover and encouraging more people to enroll.
Primary care is essential since it enables healthcare practitioners to identify potential health problems early before they become severe. A more effective health care system is developed through it since it allows for high-quality care, achieving desired outcomes, efficient use of resources, and good patient satisfaction. This is important not only to patients but also to the healthcare systems because it focuses on the health needs of every patient at the community level through prevention, integration care, education, and promotion. Also, it enhances the performance of health systems by reducing the overall healthcare cost while improving population access and health (Van Weel & Kidd, 2018). Therefore, it enables the healthcare system to improve public health by providing easy access, convenience, communication, and maintenance in medical care.

References
Ortiz, J., Hofler, R., Bushy, A., Lin, Y. L., Khanijahani, A., & Bitney, A. (2018). Impact of Nurse Practitioner Practice Regulations on Rural Population Health Outcomes. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 6(2), 65. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare6020065
Van Weel, C., & Kidd, M. R. (2018). Why strengthening primary health care is essential to achieving universal health coverage. CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l’Association medicale canadienne, 190(15), E463–E466. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.170784
Weldon, D. (2014). Non-physician providers: An unexpected route to revenue increases. Healthcare Finance News. Retrieved 27 June 2022, from https://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/non-physician-providers-unexpected-route-revenue-increases.
Young, S. G., Gruca, T. S., & Nelson, G. C. (2020). Impact of non-physician providers on spatial accessibility to primary care in Iowa. Health services research, 55(3), 476–485. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6773.13280

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