More NPs mean fewer trips to the emergency department and lower costs

Investigators in New York state studied the relationship between workforce supply (physicians, NPs, and PAs) and 1) ED use and 2) in-patient hospitalizations for chronically ill Medicaid beneficiaries. Results showed that as the NP/beneficiary proportion increased, ED visits for dual and nondual eligible beneficiaries decreased. Counties with a higher proportion of NPs and PAs had significantly lower numbers of ED visits and hospitalizations for Medicaid beneficiaries. Source: Norful, Allison A.; de Jacq, Krystyna; Liu, Jianfang; Ye, Siqin; Khadka, Simran; Poghosyan, Lusine. The impact of nurse practitioner and physician assistant workforce supply on Medicaid-related emergency department visits and hospitalizations. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. 33(12):1190-1197.