Nurse Practitioner Analysis of an Adult Nurse Practitioner

The profession of a nurse practitioner is highly important in the medical and support industries, and nurses are instrumental in providing the level of care and attention that patients need, deserve, and desire. Simply providing care is only one of the many facets of the nursing profession, however, and there are many considerations that an Adult Nurse Practitioner and indeed all nurse practitioners must be aware of and take into account when making large-scale professional decisions as well as when completing the day-to-day tasks required of them due to their roles in providing care. This paper will examine three specific issues that are important aspects of a nurse practitioner's profession and task performance, focusing specifically on the role of an Adult Nurse Practitioner when applicable.

Reimbursement

Though not directly related to either increasing nursing knowledge or providing care to patients, understanding the reimbursement procedures and programs that are available to Adult Nurse Practitioners as compared to physicians is an essential component of making effective career decisions that will continue to support the nurse practitioner throughout her or his career. Reimbursement policies and practices vary significantly from region to region, state to state, payer to payer, and even from facility to facility, however, making a general discussion of reimbursement for nurse practitioners next to impossible. These matters are complicated still further by the changing financial landscape of the medical and care industries.

The five major entities that reimburse nurse practitioners and physicians for care are Medicare, Medicaid, indemnity insurance companies, managed-care organizations, and independent businesses that contract for specific services...

Each of these payers has different policies in place; businesses reimburse at whatever contracted rate is set for specific services, as do most insurance companies and managed care organizations (Buppert 2008). When it comes to Medicare, Medicaid, and any state-operated medical assistance programs, reimbursement rates and policies vary down to the specific procedural level (Buppert 2008). Researchers have been offering ways to radically adjust reimbursement structures and practices for medical care in order to make the industry more efficient and cost-effective, however, and with changes in thinking and in national policy appearing to become more rapid it is possible that reimbursement could change significantly in the next decade (Goroll et al. 2007).
Electronic Documentation Systems

There are many other changes taking place in the nursing profession and the medical industry other than discussions regarding financial structures and compensation. The rapid pace of technology over the past several decades has led to some significant changes in the manner in which the business and practice of nursing is carried out. This includes record keeping, which used to (and often still does) occupy a great deal of space and time for most medical offices. Transitioning from paper to electronic documentation systems can increase the efficiency and effectiveness of care if properly utilized (Grossman & O'Brien 2010).

Electronic documentation systems often contain the same basic fields as paper documents used to store the same information; various software programs utilize different layouts and sometimes different nomenclature, but their use is relatively straightforward (Grossman & O'Brien 2010). Essentially, medical information and certain identifying information is entered into a software program that…