Loresto Figaro L, Jupiter Daniel, Kuo Yong-Fang
Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas.
Department of Internal Medicine and Sealy Center on Aging, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas.
J Am Assoc Nurse Pract. 2017 Jun;29(6):340-347. doi: 10.1002/2327-6924.12465. Epub 2017 May 25.
Few studies have examined differences in functional, cognitive, and psychological factors between patients utilizing only nurse practitioners (NPs) and those utilizing only primary care medical doctors (PCMDs) for primary care.
Patients utilizing NP-only or PCMD-only models for primary care will be characterized and compared in terms of functional, cognitive, and psychological factors.
Cohorts were obtained from the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey linked to Medicare claims data. Weighted analysis was conducted to compare the patients within the two care models in terms of functional, cognitive, and psychological factors.
From 2007 to 2013, there was a 170% increase in patients utilizing only NPs for primary care. In terms of health status, patients utilizing only NPs in their primary care were not statistically different from patients utilizing only PCMDs.
There is a perception that NPs, as compared with PCMDs, tend to provide care to healthier patients. Our results are contrary to this perception. In terms of health status, NP-only patients are similar to PCMD-only patients.
Results of this study may inform research comparing NP-only care and PCMD-only care using Medicare and the utilization of NPs in primary care.
很少有研究调查仅使用执业护士（NP）进行初级保健的患者与仅使用初级保健医生（PCMD）进行初级保健的患者在功能、认知和心理因素方面的差异。
将对仅使用NP模式或仅使用PCMD模式进行初级保健的患者在功能、认知和心理因素方面进行特征描述和比较。
队列数据来自与医疗保险理赔数据相关联的医疗保险当前受益人调查。进行加权分析以比较两种护理模式下患者的功能、认知和心理因素。
2007年至2013年期间，仅使用NP进行初级保健的患者增加了170%。在健康状况方面，仅在初级保健中使用NP的患者与仅使用PCMD的患者在统计学上没有差异。
有一种观点认为，与PCMD相比，NP倾向于为更健康的患者提供护理。我们的结果与这种观点相反。在健康状况方面，仅由NP护理的患者与仅由PCMD护理的患者相似。
本研究结果可能为使用医疗保险比较仅由NP护理和仅由PCMD护理以及初级保健中NP的使用情况的研究提供参考。
