Nurse Practitioner
Physician Assistants & Advanced Practice Nursing Providers › Nurse Practitioner
About this specialty
(1) A registered nurse provider with a graduate degree in nursing prepared for advanced practice involving independent and interdependent decision making and direct accountability for clinical judgment across the health care continuum or in a certified specialty. (2) A registered nurse who has completed additional training beyond basic nursing education and who provides primary health care services in accordance with state nurse practice laws or statutes. Tasks performed by nurse practitioners vary with practice requirements mandated by geographic, political, economic, and social factors. Nurse practitioner specialists include, but are not limited to, family nurse practitioners, gerontological nurse practitioners, pediatric nurse practitioners, obstetric-gynecologic nurse practitioners, and school nurse practitioners.
Source: (1) American Nurses' Association, American Nurses Credentialing Center, 1996 Certification Catalogue. (2) ) Lexikon: Dictionary of Health Care Terms, Organizations and Acronyms for the Era of Reform, The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois: 1994, p. 549.
Highest Medicare-paid providers
| Provider | Location | Medicare paid |
|---|---|---|
| CARLOS REYES CHOUZA | WEST PALM BEACH, FL | $81,095,661 |
| ANDREA VASQUEZ, NP | CERRITOS, CA | $35,591,995 |
| BRENT BYERS, APRN | EDMOND, OK | $27,294,302 |
| NELSON UY, APRN | PARK RIDGE, IL | $23,918,185 |
| GINA PALACIOS, FNP-C | PHOENIX, AZ | $18,488,083 |
| LEIGH TESAR, ARNP | BRADENTON, FL | $18,318,495 |
| RODALYN BROWN, FNP | CARLSBAD, CA | $15,118,999 |
| ELISABETH BALKEN, FNP | PEORIA, AZ | $14,377,645 |
| TASHIBA WILLIAMS, NP | HOUSTON, TX | $13,782,127 |
| MICAH KIRSCHER | CORNELIUS, NC | $12,183,652 |
Ranked by total Medicare payments — a measure of billing volume, not care quality.
Taxonomy definitions from the NUCC Health Care Provider Taxonomy (public domain). Provider counts derived from NPPES; payment figures from CMS Medicare data. Not affiliated with CMS, NPPES, NUCC, or any government agency.