Increase Patient Access to Nurse Practitioner Partnered Care in New York State

New York has approximately 16,000 nurse practitioners (NPs) across the state. However, all of them are required to have a written collaborative agreement with a physician. As the implementation of Obamacare looms in January 2014, NPs are one solution to provide primary care to the influx on new patients into the system. Nurse practitioners are registered nurses with additional schooling, education, and training. Nurse practitioners have nearly a 50 year history of providing high-quality, patient-centered and cost-effective care. Nurse practitioners can be found across all healthcare settings and write prescriptions, make diagnoses, manage chronic conditions, provide well-care and health promotional efforts.

NPs will continue to collaborate with all members of the healthcare team as needed. However, the requirement of the written collaborative agreement is a an unnecessary barrier to practice.