CBO: More NP Care Helped Slow Medicare Growth
Posted almost 12 years ago by Stanley F Whittaker
From AANP:
Increased use of nurse practitioners is likely to have contributed to slowing the growth in Medicare spending from 2000 to 2010, according to an August 22 Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report, although researchers said they were unable to quantify the impact of specific changes in health care delivery. The economy appears to have had little to do with slowing Medicare spending, but CBO had a hard time pinpointing the exact reasons for the historically low growth rate.
“We suspect that, over the decade, providers may have shifted toward methods of delivering care that resulted in slower growth in the volume, intensity, and cost of the care delivered.” the report states, citing the increased use of NPs and physician assistants, the decline in inpatient services, and the change in settings in which beneficiaries receive care near the end of life.
Increased use of nurse practitioners is likely to have contributed to slowing the growth in Medicare spending from 2000 to 2010, according to an August 22 Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report, although researchers said they were unable to quantify the impact of specific changes in health care delivery. The economy appears to have had little to do with slowing Medicare spending, but CBO had a hard time pinpointing the exact reasons for the historically low growth rate.
“We suspect that, over the decade, providers may have shifted toward methods of delivering care that resulted in slower growth in the volume, intensity, and cost of the care delivered.” the report states, citing the increased use of NPs and physician assistants, the decline in inpatient services, and the change in settings in which beneficiaries receive care near the end of life.