Nurse Practitioners Delivering Emergency Care Linked To Longer Length Of Stay & Higher Cost Of Care

Compared to physicians, nurse practitioners (NPs) that deliver emergency care in Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facilities increase consumer length of stay by 11% and raise the cost of emergency department (ED) care by 7%. Thirty-day preventable hospitalizations also increase by 20% when nurse practitioners deliver emergency care.

The VHA granted full practice authority to NPs in late 2016, which allows NPs to practice without physician supervision. This permission supersedes any state restrictions on NP practice authority.

Further analysis found that if just 25% of ED consumers were transferred to NPs from physicians, non-wage spending to the VHA would . . .