Florida's nurse practitioners say they can save state millions
Posted over 14 years ago by Stanley F Whittaker
Orlando Sun Sentinel
When Mathew Harden accidentally smashed his hand on the job, the 35-year-old Bartow mechanic went to an emergency room for stitches and then to a nurse practitioner for follow-up treatment. Harden was pleased with the care — but not the prescription he got.
"The pain was pretty intense," Harden said. "The prescription just wasn't cutting it."
But his nurse practitioner, Jeffrey Hazzard, couldn't prescribe anything stronger. Florida law doesn't allow it.
The ability to prescribe controlled substances — drugs that are addictive or have the potential for abuse — is a legislative battle Florida's nurse practitioners have been fighting, and losing, for the past 17 years. But this year, advocates think the battle takes on new urgency and a wider front: With the state facing spiraling Medicaid costs, a dwindling number of family physicians, and private insurers and patients alike trying to lower their medical bills, some say a more independent role for nurse practitioners is an idea whose time has come — and one that could save the state millions of dollars a year.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/health/os-fl-nurse-practitioners-20110125,0,3079253,full.story