Peter Buerhaus

Buerhaus’ talk summarized recent and ongoing studies comparing nurse practitioner and physician contributions toward primary health care. The presentation compared variables such as geographic locations of respective practices, types of services provided, patient characteristics, cost of services and preliminary evidence concerning quality of care.

The talk included details from a recent study Buerhaus and others published in Medical Care, the Journal of the American Public Health Association, indicating that nurse practitioners are more likely than medical doctors to practice in rural areas and that people living in rural areas tend to have the least access to a primary care clinician (primary care doctors, nurse practitioners and physician assistants).

Buerhaus concluded his talk by discussing potential ways to improve rural access to primary care, including reducing restrictions for nurse practitioners, initiating payment reforms, increasing use of tele-health care, locating medical schools in rural areas and exposing physicians and nurses to rural health topics early in their education.

About the Presenter

Buerhaus is well known for his studies and publications on the nursing and physician workforces in the United States. Five of his nearly 120 publications are designated as “classics” by the federal government’s Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Buerhaus is a member of the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine and, in 2010, was appointed chairman of the National Health Care Workforce Commission. The Commission was created under the Affordable Care Act to advise Congress and the administration on health workforce policy.

 

The Café Scientifique was co-sponsored by Montana INBRE and Montana State University COBRE programs.