In Mississippi, the House of Representatives passed a bill in February that would have allowed advanced practice nurses (APRNs) to treat patients without a collaboration agreement with a physician after accruing 8,000 hours of experience. However, the bill and another similar bill ultimately didn’t reach a vote before the legislative session ended earlier this month. The American Medical Association and the Mississippi State Medical Association lobbied against this expansion in scope of practice for APRNs in the state, noting that patients too often mistake non-physician providers for physicians, while also highlighting the significant differences in education between the 2 provider types. Initially, the bill was proposed to address access issues and Mississippi’s serious physician shortage, according to a state representative speaking to the local Magnolia Tribune. Expanding the scope of practice for APRNs in this way would have reduced the time and expense of administrative tasks associated with creating and maintaining the collaborative agreements.
Now what? The current law will stand in Mississippi. It requires APRNs to maintain relationships with physicians to review 10% of APRNs’ charts once a month. And the relationship can’t be in name only. Physicians could be at risk of malpractice litigation involving the clinicians they supervise if patient care is compromised. Read more from the JUCM archive: Supervising Doctors May be Held Liable in Malpractice Suits.