Assessing an ACO prototype--Medicare's Physician Group Practice demonstration.

n engl j med 364;3 nejm.org january 20, 2011 198 education for nurses and laid the groundwork for the development of APRNs.4 We need an equivalent effort now. The approximately $160 million per year in Medicare funding for nursing education should be used to support clinical training of graduatelevel APRNs rather than diploma nursing programs.5 It will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to generate enough nursing faculty, APRNs, and nurses to fill leadership and executive roles requiring graduate-level education if entry-level nursing education does not shift entirely to the baccalaureate level. The stakeholders (educational institutions and students) will respond to financial incentives — which are, after all, the triedand-true American way of bringing about change.