I’m a fan of nurse practitioners replacing the vast majority of doctors.
Back in the 1920s, before the AMA came into power and all the regulations, we had:
- House calls
- Affordable healthcare
- No need for insurance (see previous line)
- Doctors who learned as apprentices, not students
We didn’t have all the treatments available back then for MMR, the flu, cancer, herpes, etc. However, all these innovations came from the pharmaceutical industry, not the medical industry.
The only reasons we have this many doctors in society, instead of patients and loved ones happily self-diagnosing the majority (but not all) of their problems, are:
- Many people still appreciate the confidence instilled by an expert.
- Doctors have a monopoly on access to drugs.
Forwarded Email
On Fri, May 28, 2010, Michael Tomeo wrote:
Here we go, the third-world conversion of medicine…
(Email forwarded from Kramer Green Zuckerman Greene & Buchsbaum, P.A., originally from the Baltimore Sun)
With doctor shortage, ‘Dr. Nurses’ seek bigger role in primary care
28 states consider expanding the authority of nurse practitioners.
This is the fifth in a series of articles on health care reform.
A nurse may soon be your doctor. With a looming shortage of primary care doctors, 28 states are considering expanding the authority of nurse practitioners. These nurses, with advanced degrees, want the right to practice without a doctor’s oversight and to prescribe narcotics. If they hold a doctorate, they also want to be called “Doctor.”
For years, nurse practitioners have been playing a bigger role in the nation’s health care, especially in regions with few doctors. With 32 million more Americans gaining health insurance within a few years, the health care overhaul is putting more money into nurse-managed clinics. Those newly insured patients will be looking for doctors and may find nurses instead.
The medical establishment is fighting to protect its turf.
Doctors have shown up in white coats at statehouses to testify against nurse practitioner bills. The American Medical Association (AMA), which supported the national health care overhaul, says a doctor shortage is no reason to put nurses in charge and endanger patients.
Nurse practitioners argue there’s no danger. They say they’re highly trained and as skilled as doctors at diagnosing illness during office visits. They know when to refer the sickest patients to doctor specialists. Plus, they spend more time with patients and charge less.
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