Does Expanded State Scope of Practice for Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants Increase Primary Care Utilization in Community Health Centers?

Authors: Jeongyoung Park, PhD, MPH | Xinxin Han, PhD | Patricia Pittman, PhD

Topics: Community Health Centers, Nursing, Scope of Practice (SOP)

Research Center: GW Health Workforce Research Center

August 6, 2019

Expanding the legal scope of practice (SOP) for nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) has the potential to improve productivity and access to care. Existing studies of NP and PA regulatory policy have focused on profession specific outcomes, rather than multi-professional outcomes.

This article examines the impact of expanded state SOP for NPs and PAs on primary care utilization in community health centers by NP, PA, and primary care physician.

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