We study the impact of scope-of-practice laws in a highly regulated and important policy setting, the provision of medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder. We consider two natural experiments generated by policy changes at the state and federal level that allow nurse practitioners more practice autonomy. Both experiments show that liberalizations of prescribing authority lead to large improvements in access to care. Further, we use rich address-level data to answer key policy questions. Expanding nurse practitioner prescribing authority reduces urban–rural disparities in health care access. Additionally, expanded autonomy increases access to care provided by physicians, driven by complementarities between providers.

中文翻译：

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执业范围限制对获得医疗服务的影响

我们研究执业范围法在高度监管且重要的政策环境中的影响，即为阿片类药物使用障碍提供药物辅助治疗。我们考虑了由州和联邦层面的政策变化产生的两个自然实验，这些实验允许护士从业人员更多地实践自主权。这两项实验都表明，处方权的自由化极大地改善了获得医疗服务的机会。此外，我们使用丰富的地址级数据来回答关键的政策问题。扩大执业护士的处方权可以减少城乡在医疗保健获取方面的差距。此外，在提供者之间的互补性推动下，扩大的自主权增加了获得医生提供的护理的机会。