Physician-led care reduces cost and leads to better health outcomes. That’s the conclusion of a study of Veterans Health Administration (VHA) emergency departments.
The federal study states, “compared to physicians, NPs (nurse practitioners) use more medical resources: They require longer lengths of stay and incur higher costs. However, they achieve less favorable patient outcomes, as measured by 30-day preventable hospitalizations.”
The National Bureau of Economic Research released the Stanford study highlighting the difference cost and quality between nurse practitioners and physicians in VHA emergency departments. The study finds that nurse practitioners use more resources and achieve worse health outcomes than physicians.
There is a legislative effort to eliminate physician involvement in patient care. Removing physicians from the patient care team would negatively impact patient safety and lead to higher costs. This policy proposal is bad for North Carolina patients.