Three Ways to Improve Rural Healthcare
As the “Medicare for All” movement gains momentum, discussions of incremental reform have been drowned out by calls for a more sweeping overhaul of the healthcare system. But proponents would [...]
When Regulations Block Access to Oral Health Care, Children at Risk Suffer
This brief describes a range of state-based regulations or policies that either limit or prohibit dental hygienists from sealing children’s teeth at school, or create financial burdens that work against [...]
How Medical Licensing Drives Up Health Care Prices
The role of licensing in driving up healthcare costs has been almost completely ignored. The apparent explanation is that nobody can imagine that there is any alternative. The obvious complexity [...]
Rural And Nonrural Primary Care Physician Practices Increasingly Rely On Nurse Practitioners
The use of nurse practitioners (NPs) in primary care is one way to address growing patient demand and improve care delivery. However, little is known about trends in NP presence [...]
Medicare Graduate Medical Education Funding is Not Addressing the Primary Care Shortage: We Need a Radically Different Approach
A growing body of evidence shows that areas with robust primary care systems tend to have better outcomes and lower per capita costs than areas that rely more on specialists. [...]
Nurses as Intermediaries in the Promotion of Community Health: Exploring Their Roles and Challenges
An effective health care system needs to coordinate medical facilities with the behavioral and economic drivers in communities that are most related to good long-term health. Intermediaries can help this [...]
Relationship Between State Policy and Anesthesia Provider Supply in Rural Communities
There is a significant geographic variation in anesthesia provider supply. Lower supply in rural communities raises concerns about access to procedures that require anesthesia in rural areas. State policies related [...]
A brief history of pharmacist prescribing in the UK
Pharmacists have been prescribing in the UK since 2003, following the success of nurse prescribing. The review of prescribing, supply and administration of medicines (the second Crown Report) in 1999 [...]
Improving Efficiency in the Health-Care System: Removing Anticompetitive Barriers for Advanced Practice Registered Nurses and Physician Assistants
In an era characterized by high levels of U.S. health-care spending and inadequate health outcomes, it is vital for policymakers to explore opportunities for enhancing productivity. Important productivity gains could [...]
Impact of Rural and Urban Hospital Closures on Inpatient Mortality
This paper examines the impact of California's hospital closures occurring from 1995-2011 on adjusted inpatient mortality for time-sensitive conditions: sepsis, stroke, asthma/chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and acute myocardial infarction [...]