Nurse practitioners.Some otolaryngologists have a nurse practitioner nurse practitioner n. Abbr. NP A registered nurse with special training for providing primary health care, including many tasks customarily performed by a physician. (NP) on staff. Let's let's Contraction of let us. compare their respective charges and reimbursements during 1 month in a representative ENT ENT ears, nose, and throat (otorhinolaryngology). ENT abbr. ear, nose, and throat ENT ear, nose and throat. ENT Ears, nose & throat; formally, otorhinolaryngology solo practice solo practice Medical practice by a single physician–a solo practioner, usually understood to mean a nonspecialist. See Private practice; Cf Group practice. (table). During this period, the NP charged $16,895 for 151 encounters, for an average of $112 per encounter. The NP was reimbursed for 287 encounters and received $11,605 (average payment: $40). The physician charged $129,864 for 572 encounters with an average charge of $227. The otolaryngologist received payments of $56,182 for 877 encounters for an average of $64 per encounter. The average NP charge was just less than half the amount of the average physician's charge ($112 vs. $227); the large difference was probably attributable attributable emanating from or pertaining to attribute. attributable proportion see attributable risk (below). attributable risk to the physician's charges for surgery. However, the NP's average reimbursement Reimbursement Payment made to someone for out-of-pocket expenses has incurred. was almost two-thirds that of the otolaryngologist's. Many variables can have an effect on charges and reimbursements and the sample used here is small, but it is nonetheless interesting to see how services are valued and reimbursed.
Table. Comparison of charges and reimbursements for the physician
(MD) and the nurse practitioner (NP) during the 1-month period
No. encounters Total Average No. encounters
billed charges charge reimbursed
MD 572 $129,864 $227 877
NP 151 $16,895 $112 287
Total Average
reimbursements reimbursement
MD $56,182 $64
NP $11,605 $40
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