How Nurse Practitioners Can Transition into Value-Based Care
Getting involved in value-based care arrangements can be a challenge for many nurse practitioners in private practice. The National Nurse Practitioner Entrepreneur Network is helping many get started.
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By - Figuring out where to begin value-based conversations can be challenging for many providers in private practice, and nurse practitioners are no exception.
The first meaningful step is education, Lorraine Bock, co-found of the National Nurse Practitioner Entrepreneur Network (NNPEN) told Healthcare Strategies. Her organization works with nurse practitioners to develop business-savvy strategies in their own practice.
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“We train NPs to have a little bit of a business brain and then support them in starting a practice,” explained Bock. NNPEN does not focus on clinical excellence but on business and practice ownership excellence.
“We’re trying to work on the business aspect of it so that NPs can feel confident that there’s somebody to go to when they want to start a practice that has experiences, that has resources, and that has expertise in the area,” she continued.
Currently, only a small number of nurse practitioners have their own practice, Bock said. But that number is growing and will continue to grow as these providers gain the confidence and knowledge needed to be successful business owners.
“If you’re a member of NNPEN and you come to us with a problem, we will oftentimes be able to, with your consent, get involved with the payers, approach them, and open the door to have conversations with them,” Bock furthered.
These conversations can lead to value-based reimbursement arrangements and partnerships for success. But many nurse practitioners need to get comfortable with the idea of taking financial risk.
NNPEN works with nurse practitioners throughout any phase of their practice ownership for billing and coding excellence, clinical operations streamlining, and mitigating legal challenges around practice ownership.
“We’re not taught to be [financial] risk takers. If you think about nursing education, we’re not taught to take a lot of risks,” Bock concluded. “We’re taught like crazy to advocate for our patients so that they get what they need, but we’re not taught to protect ourselves financially by taking risks.”
