House Healthcare committee approves bill creating prescribing specialty for doctoral psychologists

The House Healthcare committee on March 14 approved H237 as amended to create a prescribing specialty for doctoral-level psychologists, setting training, clinical-rotation and supervision requirements and limiting the scope of prescriptive authority. The committee approved the bill on a 10-0-1 vote.

Katie McLennan, Office of Legislative Counsel, presented the amendments and described the key changes, including new definitions and limits on who may serve as a collaborating practitioner. "Prescriptive authority means the authority to prescribe or discontinue prescription drugs solely for the purpose of diagnosing, treating, or managing a condition recognized in the DSM," McLennan said, and she noted the amendment also cross-references an existing definition of "drug."

The amended bill defines a "collaborating practitioner" as a physician licensed to practice medicine with a specialty in psychiatry. It requires that a psychologist seeking the new prescribing…