Document Type
Working Paper
Publication Date
12-14-2018
SSRN Discipline
Legal Scholarship Network; PSN Subject Matter eJournals; HEN Subject Matter eJournals; Law School Research Papers - Legal Studies; Medical Specialties eJournals; LSN Subject Matter eJournals; Health Economics Network; MedRN Subject Matter eJournals; Political Science Network; Medical Research Network; Health Law eJournals; Political Economy - Development eJournals
Abstract
Scopeofpractice laws that restrict Nurse Practitioners' NPs ability to deliver healthcare are justified as necessary to promote patient safety and protect patients from providers with less training than physicians Analyzing a dataset of over 13 billion opioid prescriptions at the individualprovider level I evaluate this justification in the context of the ongoing opioid crisis I examine whether allowing NPs to practice independently of physicians increases opioid prescriptions Granting NPs independence increases NP opioid prescriptions but decreases physician opioid prescriptions across three different measures of prescriptions The net effect is an overall decrease of about 12 percent in morphine milligram equivalents prescribed across all providers The results suggest that restrictive scopeofpractice laws are not necessary to protect patients from the overuse of dangerous drugs and that these laws may increase the use of these medications and undermine patient safety
Recommended Citation
Benjamin J. McMichael,
Scope-of-Practice Laws and Patient Safety: Evidence from the Opioid Crisis,
(2018).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.ua.edu/fac_working_papers/600