Texas Needs Independent NPs!
An editorialist on mysanantonio.com wrote a column that pleads with the Texas Legislature to give independence to NPs so that the retail health industry can expand freely in the state. In "Texas Needs More Retail Health Clinics" David Hendricks notes that Texas is a state with an overburdened health care system:
If Texas were a sick patient, it would be waiting in crowded doctor's office. A simple law change can make health care more efficient and less costly. It doesn't even require a tax increase. We'll all feel better when the Legislature does what it should.
In Texas, physicians must provide on-site NP oversight site 20% of the time and must review 10% of charts. The limitations placed on NPs in the state are some of the strictest in the country. More thoughtful commentary like Hendricks' could influence legislators to pass laws that will increase patient access to health care.