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Committee advances two related bills to tighten nurse-practitioner supervision and collect practice data
Summary
Sen. Crow’s bills to require board-certified supervising physicians for new nurse-practitioner collaboration agreements and to direct a Department of Health survey of nurse-practitioner specialties advanced from committee; the survey bill passed unanimously and the supervisory-policy bill was sent to general subcommittee for further work.
Two related measures addressing nurse-practitioner (NP) practice and oversight were considered together by the committee.
Senate Bill 333 (sponsor: Sen. Crow) would require that new collaboration agreements for nurse practitioners be with a physician who is board certified or board eligible in the supervising physician’s specialty and that newly licensed NPs serve a three-year supervised period with more immediate chart-review timing in higher-risk specialties. Sen. Crow framed the bill as a response to concerns about NP supervision in high-acuity specialty settings and patient-safety risks when supervising physicians lack relevant board certification or sufficient on-site time.
Senate Bill 332 (sponsor: Sen. Crow) would require the Board of Nursing (through the Department of Health) to survey nurse practitioners about specialty, collaborating physician specialty, practice addresses and the number of days per week a collaborating physician is on-site. The survey would be emailed, reminders sent quarterly, and aggregated, deidentified annual reports delivered to legislative health chairs. Department of Health witness Holt Witt confirmed the department has email lists for licensees and can implement the survey and quarterly reminders.
Committee action: SB 333 (the supervisory/credentialing bill) was moved to General Subcommittee without objection for further work. SB 332 (the survey/reporting bill), as amended, passed the committee by roll call (9 ayes) and will require the Department of Health and the Board of Nursing to collect and report aggregated, de-identified data on NP specialties and collaborating-physician arrangements.
Why it matters: The combination of a prospective supervisory standard (SB 333) and a data-collection requirement (SB 332) is intended to give lawmakers and regulators better visibility into where NPs practice, who supervises them and whether supervision arrangements match the clinical risks of specialty care. Supporters said the survey will allow targeted policy changes; witnesses said it will be relatively quick to complete by email and that the department already maintains contact lists for licensees.
