Attitudes toward nurse practitioner-led chronic disease management to improve outpatient quality of care

To understand the acceptability for a model of chronic disease management, in which primary care patients see nurse practitioners for structured visits using an evidence-based encounter form, the authors sent a mailed survey to primary care physicians and nurse practitioners. A total of 212 subjects completed the survey, for a total response rate of 53% (physicians, 44%; nurse practitioners, 61%). Most physicians (79.5%) reported that nurse practitioners saw patients in their practice. Most physicians (80.0%) and nurse practitioners (95.7%) believed that the proposed model of care would improve the control of chronic illnesses. In addition, most physicians (73.8%) and nurse practitioners (87.6%) believed that the model of care would be of interest to similar providers. Overall, the high level of support for the model and the presence of nurse practitioners in most physician offices suggests that future studies are warranted to understand how best to implement this.