Trial reportThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2010
Economic evaluation of nurse practitioners versus GPs in treating common conditions.
Trial report in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT01388374 (A Study on the), which is not on this map. Cited by 24 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
A Study on the (Cost-)Effectiveness of Nurse Practitioners Working at the Primary Out of Hours Emergency Service and the Feasibility of Implementing These Nurses
Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 62 citations in OpenAlex.
- Impact of nurse practitioners in primary care on patients with chronic diseases in rural and underserved areas: A systematic review.The European journal of general practice · 2026Pooled it
- General medical services by non-medical health professionals: a systematic quantitative review of economic evaluations in primary care.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2019Pooled it
- Barriers and facilitators to the implementation of doctor-nurse substitution strategies in primary care: a qualitative evidence synthesis.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2019Pooled it
- Nurses as substitutes for doctors in primary care.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2018Pooled it
- Non-medical prescribing versus medical prescribing for acute and chronic disease management in primary and secondary care.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2016Pooled it
- Cost-effectiveness of nurse practitioners in primary and specialised ambulatory care: systematic review.BMJ open · 2015Pooled it
- Substitution of physicians by nurses in primary care: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC health services research · 2014Pooled it
- Nurse led interventions to improve control of blood pressure in people with hypertension: systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2010Pooled it
- The impact of substituting general practitioners with nurse practitioners on resource use, production and health-care costs during out-of-hours: a quasi-experimental study.BMC family practice · 2016Trial
- Global Economic Evaluation of the Nurse Prescribing of Medication Role: A Scoping Review.Nursing open · 2026Article
- Evaluating the cost of NP-led vs. GP-led primary care in British Columbia.Healthcare management forum · 2024Article
- Pre-post analysis of the impact of British Columbia nurse practitioner primary care clinics on patient health and care experience.BMJ open · 2023Article
- Role dimensions of practice nurses and interest in introducing advanced nurse practitioners in general practice in Ireland.Health science reports · 2022Article
- Assessing Association Between Team Structure and Health Outcome and Cost by Social Network Analysis.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2020Article
- [Skill mix of nurses and primary health care professionals: a systematic review].Revista panamericana de salud publica = Pan American journal of public health · 2020Review
- Attitudes of medical doctors and nurses towards the role of the nurses in the primary care unit in Italy.Primary health care research & development · 2018Article
- Observational
- Does the Regulatory Environment Affect Nurse Practitioners' Patterns of Practice or Quality of Care in Health Centers?Health services research · 2017Article
- Consultations in general practices with and without mental health nurses: an observational study from 2010 to 2014.BMJ open · 2016Observational
- Treatment by a nurse practitioner in primary care improves the severity and impact of urinary incontinence in women. An observational study.BMC urology · 2015Observational
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAs studies evaluating substitution of care have revealed only limited evidence on cost-effectiveness, a trial was conducted to evaluate nurse practitioners as a first point of contact in Dutch general practices.
aimTo estimate costs of GP versus nurse practitioner consultations from practice and societal perspectives. DESIGN OF STUDY: An economic evaluation was conducted alongside a randomised controlled trial between May and October 2006, wherein 12 nurse practitioners and 50 GPs working in 15 general practices (study practices) participated. Consultations by study practices were also compared with an external reference group, with 17 GPs working in five general practices without the involvement of nurse practitioners.
methodDirect costs within the healthcare sector included resource use, follow-up consultations, length of consultations, and salary costs. Costs outside the healthcare sector were productivity losses. Sensitivity analyses were performed.
resultsDirect costs were lower for nurse practitioner consultations than for GP consultations at study practices. This was also the case for direct costs plus costs from a societal perspective for patients aged <65 years. Direct costs of consultations at study practices were lower than those of reference practices, while practices did not differ for direct costs plus costs from a societal perspective for patients aged <65 years. Cost differences are mainly caused by the differences in salary.
conclusionBy involving nurse practitioners, substantial economic 'savings' could be used for redesigning primary care, to optimise the best skill mix, and to cover the full range of primary care activities.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.