Supply and demand is perhaps the most basic principle in economics, or at least one I remember from so many years ago.  If we are going to bring the costs down in healthcare, we need to take as many bottlenecks out of the system as possible and really increase access to care.  We should also make it as efficient as possible, making sure every provider practices “up to their licensure” as the experts are fond of saying.  Another way of saying this is to allow everyone to concentrate on what they have been trained to do and push work down that can be handled by those less trained.

One way we can make this happen is to make full utilization of nurse practitioners and other healthcare personnel.  Last week, the Washington Post had a very interesting piece on NPs and how they will have to become more fully utilized as healthcare reform is fully implemented.  There are currently about 155,000 NPs in the country and they will be critical to filling the gap of PCP coverage as office visits begin to increase again and as more people enter the system. Continue reading →