Scope-of-Practice Regulation and Nurse Practitioners as Usual Source of Care Providers

Abstract

Several trends suggest that the nurse practitioner (NP) workforce has untapped potential to expand healthcare capacity to increase access to care. Purpose The aim of this study was to examine NPs as usual source of care providers and investigate their relationship with state scope-of-practice (SOP) regulations. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed using data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey on a sample of U.S. adults from 2010 to 2016. Results Modest growth in the proportion of U.S. adults who self-reported having an NP as their usual source of care provider was found from 2010 to 2016. Despite this growth, the national average of the percentage of adults with an NP as their usual source of care provider remained small. Full SOP regulation was shown to be associated with increased odds of having an NP as a usual source of care provider. In particular, adults who were on public health insurance, uninsured, and resided in nonmetropolitan areas benefited from having an NP as a usual source of care provider. Conclusion Our study provides empirical evidence on the link between full SOP regulation and increased odds of having an NP as a usual source of care provider. Several trends suggest that the nurse practitioner (NP) workforce has untapped potential to expand healthcare capacity to increase access to care. The aim of this study was to examine NPs as usual source of care providers and investigate their relationship with state scope-of-practice (SOP) regulations. A retrospective analysis was performed using data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey on a sample of U.S. adults from 2010 to 2016. Modest growth in the proportion of U.S. adults who self-reported having an NP as their usual source of care provider was found from 2010 to 2016. Despite this growth, the national average of the percentage of adults with an NP as their usual source of care provider remained small. Full SOP regulation was shown to be associated with increased odds of having an NP as a usual source of care provider. In particular, adults who were on public health insurance, uninsured, and resided in nonmetropolitan areas benefited from having an NP as a usual source of care provider. Our study provides empirical evidence on the link between full SOP regulation and increased odds of having an NP as a usual source of care provider.