Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
According to a recent paper by Young, Gruca and Nelson (2020), the answer is ‘yes’. The authors use data from the Iowa Health Professions Inventory (IHPI) to measure the number of professionals in a given area, data from the US Census’ American Community Survey (ACS) to measure the number of individuals in a given area.…
Using data from the Online Survey Certification and Reporting system and Medicare Part B claims on the use of nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) between 2000 and 2010, a paper by Intrator et al. (2015) finds: [Nursing homes] NHs using any NPs/PAs increased from 20.4 to 35.0 percent during 2000–2010. Average NP/PA [visit per bed year]…
This blog has been a proponent of increased use of nurse practitioners and physician assistants to reduce the cost of health care. However, do they really reduce the cost of care? On the one hand, NPs and PAs cost less than physicians. On the other hand, if patients must visit an NP/PA and then a…
Patients generally prefer physicians to nurse practitioners (NP) or physicians assistants (PA) assuming a visit to either costs the same. However, what happens when one takes into account waiting times? A paper by Dill et al. (2013) reveals the following: Respondents were given a choice between seeing a physician assistant or nurse practitioner today or a physician…
David Williams of the Health Business Blog reviews an article from the Boston Globe (“Immigrants…“) stating that immigrants reduce the cost of health care. How can this be with so many immigrants relying on government programs and free clinics to receive their care? While it is true that immigrants are consumers of medical care, they…