Press Release: Allowing Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) to practice to the fullest extent of their training and experience would increase access to quality health care for Floridians while saving the state up to $339 million, according to a Briefing from Florida TaxWatch, the independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit taxpayer research institute and government watchdog. To facilitate such practice, Florida’s practice and regulation laws must be revisited to remove barriers to nurse practitioner-provided care.
“Improving the quality of care for Florida’s families through increased access to professionally trained APRNs will ensure our state has the foundation for a sustainable health care system for the future,” said Dominic M. Calabro, President and CEO of Florida TaxWatch. “APRNs can fill a need stemming from Florida’s shortage of doctors and provide much of the primary care that patients are not receiving due to this shortage.”
The briefing analyzes the debate between both APRNs and Florida physicians, which is causing a stall in efforts to increase APRN practice permissions. In the event that strongly differing perspectives prevent APRN policymakers from fully addressing all important practice issues in the coming months, this independent analysis from TaxWatch proposes a temporary period of increased APRN practice permissions in access-challenged areas with reporting requirements that could allow for solid data collection regarding potential impacts to patient care.
By expanding APRN scope of practice in areas of great need for a short period time, and with stringent regulation, lawmakers could determine if the policy is accomplishing statewide goals and adequately meeting patient needs while further details are fleshed out.
“To move Florida forward and balance access, quality, and cost, both physician and nurse practitioner perspectives need to be considered, always with the patient’s best interest coming first,” said Tamara Y. Demko, JD, MPH, Director of the TaxWatch Center for Health & Aging. “Florida’s health care needs will continue to increase, and every health care practitioner plays an important role in addressing those needs.”
While both physicians and APRNs have real policy-related concerns, optimizing nurse practitioner skills to balance patient safety with access to quality care would save Florida taxpayers money and ensure that Florida’s health care system can successfully provide for the state’s 19 million-and-counting residents.
Read report.