The mental health system is increasingly reliant on psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners (PMHNPs) to meet the psychiatric needs of Medicare patients, according to a new study led by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
"We were surprised by the degree to which PMHNPs are the de facto mental health prescribers in parts of the country," said corresponding author Michael Barnett, an associate professor of health policy and management at Harvard Chan School. "In the states where PMHNPs have no restrictions on prescribing medications, these providers account for 50 percent of all mental health prescriber visits in rural areas, which was much greater than we had anticipated."
