Did you know that roughly 800,000 Kansans, over one-quarter of our state’s population, live in areas that face a severe shortage of physicians?
Kansas needs more primary care professionals to improve health care access, and advanced practice registered nurses (APRN) could be a solution.
Last year, APRNs were granted full practice authority to care for patients in Gov. Kelly’s Executive Order and in the legislature’s COVID RELIEF Bill, HB 2016. The legislature should make this permanent.
Not only does full practice authority for APRNs improve access to care and address increased demand - by eliminating the mandate for an unnecessary permission slip on APRNs, the estimated annual national cost savings would be $543 million.
Legislators should work to fix our health care system by allowing APRNs to have full practice authority and provide safe, expert, and cost-effective care in our state. Not only would this benefit all Kansans, but would improve long-existing health care availability challenges in rural or marginalized communities.
It’s time for our legislature to take action to fix our state’s health care system. Send a letter to officials urging them to support smart solutions for health care in Kansas!