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What role for nurse practitioners in primary care?

When the call went out recently for an increase in the number of primary care providers, nurse practitioners were prominent among the many professional groups that stepped forward. Now approximately 50,000 strong, they claim that their skills suit them ideally to fill the gap created by the shortage of primary care providers and gatekeepers. Already, 25 states have legislation authorizing the reimbursement of nurse practitioners by private and commercial insurers1,2; 21 states and the District of Columbia permit them to write prescriptions for drugs, and 15 of these give independent prescribing authority for controlled substances3. Is expansion . . .