Jesse Corn, CPO Zivian Health, is a digital health executive and health tech founder with over 14 years of experience in digital solutions.
One of the most pressing challenges in today’s healthcare landscape is the growing demand for primary and specialized care amid persistent provider shortages.
Independent nurse practitioners (NPs) have emerged as an important force in closing this gap, particularly in underserved communities. But despite increasing NP autonomy in many states, I believe team-based collaborative care is the most powerful solution for improving healthcare delivery.
I believe that by embracing shared expertise, we can improve patient care, expand access and build a more resilient healthcare system.
Cooperation And Technology
Through my company, I’ve helped lead the creation of a digital platform designed to simplify and strengthen physician-NP partnerships, driving compliance while enabling meaningful, efficient collaboration. Ultimately, my aim is to expand healthcare access to the communities that need it most.
In past articles, I’ve outlined a few approaches to fixing healthcare, but I would like to focus on the role of collaboration—including the role of technology in enabling collaboration.
Breaking Away From Outdated Hierarchies
Historically, our healthcare system has operated under a strict hierarchical model, with physicians at the top and other clinicians—including nurse practitioners—playing supportive roles. While this structure once made sense in a different era of medicine, it no longer aligns with modern healthcare demands.
The physician workforce is stretched thin, particularly in primary care, where burnout and workforce shortages are reaching critical levels. Doximity’s 2024 Physician Compensation Report shows that about 80% of doctors say they’re overworked and 30% are considering early retirement.
Meanwhile, the role of nurse practitioners has expanded dramatically. In more than half of U.S. states, NPs now have full practice authority, allowing them to diagnose, treat and prescribe medications without physician oversight. Despite these advancements, outdated policies and fragmented collaboration models still prevent many NPs from practicing to the full extent of their training and education.
I’ve seen firsthand how breaking away from these outdated structures can help lead to more efficient care delivery. Collaboration between physicians and NPs should not be a matter of hierarchy but rather a strategic partnership that maximizes the strengths of each provider.
Improving Patient Care
When physicians and NPs work together, patients benefit from a broader spectrum of expertise. Physicians bring deep experience in diagnostics, specialized treatment plans and complex case management. On the other hand, NPs, with their roots in nursing, tend to emphasize holistic, patient-centered care, preventive health and patient education.
By working together, they can provide a more complete healthcare experience, ensuring that patients not only receive the right treatments but also understand their conditions and take proactive steps toward long-term wellness.
Shared Decision Making And Expanding Access To Care
Collaboration between physicians and NPs is particularly impactful in rural and underserved areas, where access to healthcare remains a significant challenge. In many of these communities, NPs can be the primary—or even the only—healthcare providers available. However, about half of U.S. states legally require them to maintain collaborative agreements with physicians, even in areas where physicians are scarce.
By establishing technology-enabled collaborations, we can create more efficient collaboration models, expediting historically arduous administrative burdens and removing unnecessary barriers to care. It’s important to find ways to streamline manual processes like medical board approval, simplify nuanced compliance requirements and ensure that collaborative partnerships are both legally compliant and functionally effective in delivering care.
I see communication breakdowns as one of the most common problems in collaborative practice, leading to errors in patient care and lack of alignment on treatment plans.
By creating environments where NPs and physicians collaborate efficiently and openly, patients benefit from a wider range of perspectives, treatment options and personalized care strategies.
A More Equitable, Patient-Centered Model
The physician-NP collaborative model isn’t about diminishing the role of physicians or replacing one provider type with another. It’s about leveraging the unique strengths of each role to create a system that better serves patients.
For this vision to become a reality, I believe we will need:
• Regulatory reform: States should continue removing unnecessary barriers that restrict NP practice and slow down care delivery.
• Technological solutions: Digital platforms can help support collaboration, compliance and clinical quality tracking to ensure seamless provider communication.
• Cultural shifts in healthcare: I also believe we need to move beyond outdated perceptions of hierarchy and embrace interdisciplinary, team-based care as the standard.
Using technology to connect NPs and physicians efficiently can help create a pathway for better healthcare access—particularly for patients in underserved areas and healthcare deserts.
Conclusion
True, widespread collaboration between physicians and NPs is a fundamental shift toward a more effective, patient-centered healthcare system.
Just like with other areas of healthcare, using technology to enrich the collaborative process can help us move toward a future where healthcare is more accessible, equitable and efficient.
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