Stanford 2L Kim Lovett, MD will discuss her work on the scope of practice for nurse practitioners.

In the wake of Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, there remains considerable concern that the United States does not have enough primary care provider supply to absorb the fresh supply of insured patients into the healthcare system. Furthermore, with the unsustainably high price-tag of healthcare, stakeholders are in constant search for methods of reducing the associated costs of providing care. Expanding the scope of practice for Nurse Practitioners (NP) and allowing them to practice as independent primary care providers has been a topic of significant interest for policy-makers as a way to address these healthcare access and cost issues. This talk will review the current state of the evidence and the potential tradeoffs for nurse practitioner scope expansion as it relates to primary care. Can we really save money; will we really improve access; and, can we maintain or improve health care quality by expanding NP scope of practice?

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