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Just what the nurse practitioner ordered: Independent prescriptive authority and population mental health

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  • Alexander, Diane
  • Schnell, Molly

Abstract

We examine whether relaxing occupational licensing to allow nurse practitioners (NPs)—registered nurses with advanced degrees—to prescribe medication without physician oversight improves population mental health. Exploiting time-series variation in independent prescriptive authority for NPs from 1990 to 2014, we find that broadening prescriptive authority leads to improvements in self-reported mental health and decreases in mental health–related mortality. These improvements are concentrated in areas that are underserved by physicians and among populations that have difficulty accessing physician-provided care. Our results demonstrate that extending independent prescriptive authority to NPs can help mitigate physician shortages and extend care to disadvantaged populations.

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  • Alexander, Diane & Schnell, Molly, 2019. "Just what the nurse practitioner ordered: Independent prescriptive authority and population mental health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 145-162.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:66:y:2019:i:c:p:145-162
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2019.04.004
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    Cited by:

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    5. Anca M. Grecu & Lee C. Spector, 2019. "Nurse practitioner's independent prescriptive authority and opioids abuse," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(10), pages 1220-1225, October.
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    9. RoyChoudhury, Agnitra & Petrova, Kameliia, 2023. "Impact of New York state nurse practitioners modernization act on quality of care," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 230(C).
    10. Tianyuan Luo & Cesar L. Escalante & Carmina E. Taylor, 2021. "Labor market outcomes of granting full professional independence to nurse practitioners," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 60(1), pages 22-54, August.

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    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I13 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Insurance, Public and Private
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality

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