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Panel backs bill allowing nurses to delegate certain tasks to certified medical assistants
Summary
House Bill 327 would clarify that nurses, including advanced practice registered nurses, may delegate non‑clinical tasks to certified medical assistants; the Senate Health and Welfare Committee recommended the bill be sent to the floor with a due-pass recommendation after proponents said it aligns supervision with current clinic practice.
Representative Healy told the Senate Health and Welfare Committee that House Bill 327 would put into statute that a nurse may oversee and delegate certain nonclinical tasks to a medical assistant in a provider office. “What this bill does is simply puts it into code that a nurse can oversee a medical assistant in this setting,” Representative Healy said.
He described medical assistants as distinct from certified nursing assistants and licensed nurses, and said the bill responds to changing clinical staffing models in which advanced practice registered nurses run clinics and medical assistants perform tasks that do not require independent clinical judgment.
Senator Blaylock said delegation is “so important” in health care and asked why the change needed to appear in code. Representative Healy replied that medical assistants do not currently fall under the nursing chapter in statute or under IDAPA nursing rules, so the bill clarifies that medical assistants can be assigned tasks when the nurse responsible for delegation confirms appropriate training and supervision.
Senator Van Orden and others asked for concrete scenarios and assurances that the bill would not permit delegation of tasks requiring independent clinical judgment. Representative Healy pointed to statutory language in the bill stating that delegation may be to an individual who “has received formal training to perform” the duties and “is certified to perform by a national organization acceptable to the board.”
Robert Vandermeer, who identified himself for the record, testified in support of the bill, saying nurses routinely delegate such tasks in current clinic practice and that codifying the allowance would align statute with modern staffing models.
Senator Keiser moved to send House Bill 327 to the floor with a due-pass recommendation; Senator Blaylock seconded. The motion carried by voice vote; no recorded nays were noted in the transcript.
The bill leaves specific task lists vague, Representative Healy said, to allow clinics that have developed detailed delegation protocols to continue their practices while permitting smaller clinics to adopt delegation under the statute once staff meet formal training and certification requirements.
