The 1997 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) data report that approximately 80 million adult ambulatory visits are made to nursing personnel. Adults who visit nursing personnel and who visit physicians are similar with regard to sex and income. As compared to nursing personnel, physician visits are longer and more likely to involve diagnosis or treatment. Older adult visits (ages 65 to 90) to nursing personnel are significantly longer than the visits of younger adults. As compared to physician visits, nursing personnel visits are significantly more likely to be characterized as “other” for all adults and especially for older adults. Although these findings suggest important differences between physician and nurse ambulatory care visits, the undifferentiated use of the term nurse and the significant percentage of uncharacterized visits to nursing personnel signal serious deficiencies in the MEPS data in exploring nonphysician ambulatory care.
Aparasu, R. R. , & Mort, J. R. (2004). Prevalence, correlates, and associated outcomes of potentially inappropriate psychotropic use in the community-dwelling elderly. American Journal of Geriatric Pharmacotherapy, 2(2), 102-111.
2.
Bhargavan, M. , & Sunshine, J. H. (2005). Utilization of radiology services in the United States: Levels and trends in modalities, regions, and populations. Radiology, 234(3), 823-832.
3.
Bridevaux, I. P. (2004). A survey of patients’ out-of-pocket payments for complementary and alternative medicine therapies. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 12(1), 48-50.
4.
Bundt, T. S. , & Hu, H. M. (2004). National examination of compliance predictors and the immunization status of children: Precursor to a developmental model for health systems. Military Medicine, 169(10), 795-803.
5.
Cherry, D. K. , Burt, C. W., & Woodwell, D. A. (2001). National ambulatory medical care survey: 1999 summary (Vital and Health Statistics No. 322). Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.
6.
Cohen, S. B. (2000). Sample design of the 1997 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey household component (MEPS Methodology Report No. 11, AHRQ Pub. No. 01-0001). Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
7.
Cooper, R. A. (2001). Health care workforce for the twenty-first century: The impact of nonphysician clinicians. Annual Reviews of Medicine, 52, 51-61.
8.
Druss, B. G. , Marcus, S. C., Olfson, M., Tanielian, T., & Pincus, H. A. (2003). Trends in care by nonphysician clinicians in the United States. The New England Journal of Medicine, 348(2), 130-137.
9.
Egede, L. E. , Zheng, D., & Simpson., K. (2002). Comorbid depression is associated with increased health care use and expenditures in individuals with diabetes. Diabetes Care, 25(3), 464-470.
10.
Fiscella, K. , Franks, P., & Meldrum, S. (2004). Estimating racial/ethnic disparity in mammography rates: It all depends on how you ask the question. Preventive Medicine, 39(2), 399-403.
11.
Fu, A. Z. , Liu, G. G., & Christensen, D. B. (2004). Inappropriate medication use and health outcomes in the elderly. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 52(11), 1934-1939.
12.
Hooker, R. S. , & McCaig, L. F. (2001). Use of physician assistants and nurse practitioners in primary care, 1995-1999. Health Affairs, 20(4), 231-238.
13.
Kirby, J. B. , Machlin, S. R., & Thorpe, J. M. (2001). Patterns of ambulatory care use: Changes from 1987 to 1996 (MEPS Research Findings No. 16., AHRQ Pub. No. 01-0026). Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
14.
Kovner, C. T. , Mezey, M., & Harrington, C. (2002). Who cares for older adults?Health Affairs, 21(5), 78-89.
15.
Laditka, J. N. , & Laditka, S. B. (2004). Insurance status and access to primary health care: Disparate outcomes for potentially preventable hospitalization. Journal of Health and Social Policy, 19(2), 81-100.
16.
Larson, S. L. , & Fleishman, J. A. (2003). Rural-urban differences in usual source of care and ambulatory service use: Analyses of national data using Urban Influence Codes. Medical Care, 41(7 Suppl.), III-65-III-74.
17.
Lau, D. T. , Kasper, J. D., Potter, D. E., & Lyles, A. (2004). Potentially inappropriate medication prescriptions among elderly nursing home residents: Their scope and associated resident and facility characteristics. Health Services Research, 39(5), 1257-1276.
18.
Muller, C. , & Schur, C. (2004). Insurance coverage of prescription drugs and the rural elderly. Journal of Rural Health, 20(1), 17-25.
19.
Natarajan, S. , & Nietert, P. J. (2004). Hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, and their combinations increased health care utilization and decreased health status. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 57(9), 954-961.
20.
Olfson, M. , Gameroff, M. J., Marcus, S. C., & Waslick, B. D. (2003). Outpatient treatment of child and adolescent depression in the United States. Archives of General Psychiatry, 60(12), 1236-1242.
21.
Phillips, S. (2005). A comprehensive look at the legislative issues affecting advanced nursing practice. Nurse Practitioner, 30(1), 14-47.
22.
Sambamoorthi, U. , & McAlpine, D. D. (2003). Racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and access disparities in the use of preventive services among women. Preventive Medicine, 37(5), 475-484.
23.
Sox, H. (2000). Independent primary care practice by nurse practitioners. Journal of the American Medical Association, 283(1), 106-108.
24.
Spratley, E. , Johnson, A., Sochalski, J., Fritz, M., & Spencer, W. (2000). The registered nurse population: Findings from the national sample survey of registered nurses. Retrieved January 8, 2005, from http:bhpr.hrsa.gov/healthworkforce/reports/rnsurvey/rnss1.htm
25.
U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services . (2004). 2002 data compendium. Retrieved January 24, 2005, from http:www.cms.hhs.gov/researchers/pubs/datacompendium/2002/
26.
Xu, K. T. (2002). Usual source of care in preventive service use: A regular doctor versus a regular site. Health Services Research, 37(6), 1509-1529.
27.
Zuvekas, S. H. (2005). Prescription drugs and the changing patterns of treatment for mental disorders, 1996-2001. Health Affairs, 24(1), 195-205.
