(NAPSA)—There is good news for healthcare consumers. The once frustrating search to find a healthcare provider who spends time talking with as well as providing high-quality care for patients is just a click away on a computer. A new Web site— NPFinder.com—helps you locate a nurse practitioner (NP) in your area. This new resource helps guide consumers to NP practice sites in communities around the country. The Web site allows the search by city, state or zip code as well as specialty. NPFinder.com helps simplify the search for this exceptional healthcare provider— even providing a map pinpointing the location of the practice site. More and more people are choosing NPs as their primary, acute and/or specialty healthcare provider. Research conducted for more than 40 years has established that NPs provide high-qual- ity, cost-effective and personalized healthcare. Patients with NPs as their healthcare provider have fewer instances of emergency room visits, shorter hospital stays and often have lower medication costs. NPs are different than other healthcare providers—they focus on the whole person when treat- ing specific health problems and they educate their patients on the effects those problems will have on them and their loved ones. Outcomes from studies of NP practice support that the quality of care is at least equivalent to—and sometimes better than—that of physician care. The high level of satisfaction and con- More and more people are choosing NPs as their primary, acute and/or specialty provider. healthcare fidence that patients haveis evidenced by the approximate 600 million visits that are made to NPseach year. What is an NP? e NPs have graduate, advanced education (most have mas- ter’s degrees and many have doc- torates) and advanced clinical training beyondtheir initial registered nurse preparation. NPs order, perform and interpret diagnostic tests; diagnose and treat acute and chronic conditions; and prescribe medications and other treatment. NPs are truly partners in the healthcare of their patients. In addition to clinical services, they focus on health promotion, disease prevention and health education and counseling, guiding patients to make smarter health and lifestyle choices. Find out for yourself how an NPcan be Your Partner in Health. Visit NPFinder.com.
