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Licensing committee grants 20/80 waiver to allow Flowood physician to collaborate with Columbus psychiatric nurse practitioner
Summary
The Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure executive committee granted a temporary waiver of the board's 20/80 collaborative practice-hour rule so Dr. Deborah Gross, based in Flowood, may formally collaborate with a part-time psychiatric nurse practitioner working in Columbus.
The Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure's executive committee granted an exception to the board's 20/80 collaborative-practice rule for Dr. Deborah Gross, allowing her to serve as the collaborating physician for a part-time psychiatric nurse practitioner who will work two days a week in Columbus while Gross remains based in Flowood.
The waiver was discussed during a virtual executive committee meeting when Gross asked the panel to amend her original request for a 75-mile exception so it applied instead to the 20/80 rule. Board Secretary Dr. Givens reported after an executive-session review that the committee had met on the waiver and approved it. "The executive committee has met regarding the waiver to the 20/80 rule. It is granted," Givens said as the panel returned to open session.
Why it matters: Under the board's current rules, collaborative arrangements for primary-care specialties do not require compliance with the 75-mile residency rule if the collaborating physician meets the 20/80 clinical-hours requirement or has an exception. The committee's action removes a regulatory barrier that would have prevented the nurse practitioner in Columbus from providing outpatient psychiatric care under Gross's supervision.
Details and discussion: Gross told the committee she is based in Flowood and that the Columbus clinician would be a new, part-time psychiatric nurse practitioner working two days weekly. Gross said the practice previously obtained a separate exception to the 20-hour-per-week rule for another arrangement but not for this specific location and practitioner. "We already obtained that at a previous request in session," Gross said when discussing prior approvals.
Board members asked whether the practice uses a shared electronic medical record; Gross confirmed it does, a condition the committee indicated they would verify as part of the approval.
Procedure and outcome: The committee first recessed to executive session to consider the request. After returning to open session, Dr. Givens announced the waiver had been granted. The meeting record documents motions to close for executive session and a later report of approval; the transcript does not list a roll-call vote on the waiver itself.
What was not decided: The committee did not record a separate vote on any 75-mile exception after deciding the 20/80 waiver made a 75-mile exception unnecessary. The committee did not specify an expiration date for the waiver in the public record during the meeting.
Next steps: The board indicated staff would verify shared systems (electronic medical records) and other standard collaborative-practice conditions before final administrative implementation.
