Committee advances bill allowing nurses to delegate certain tasks to medical assistants in clinics

Representative Healy, identifying herself as the bill sponsor and a nurse, told the Senate Health and Welfare Committee that House Bill 327 clarifies that medical assistants working in provider offices may be supervised by nurses, including advanced practice registered nurses.

"This bill does simply put it into code that a nurse can oversee a medical assistant in this setting," Representative Healy said, describing medical assistants as distinct from certified nursing assistants, LPNs and RNs and noting that medical assistants often fall into a "black hole" of supervision rules.

Healy said the change is intended to reflect modern clinic staffing, where advanced practice nurses have "full autonomy" and medical assistants perform tasks such as collecting vitals and lab specimens but do not make independent clinical judgments. The bill language requires tasks delegated to non‑nurses to be those the individual has received formal training to perform and that the individual "is certified to perform by a national organization acceptable to the board." Healy said delegations must not involve "the exercise of independent clinical judgment."

Senators asked for examples and clarification of existing delegation rules. Senator Blaylock said delegation is important to maintain clinic throughput and asked why the change needs codification; Healy answered that medical assistants are not currently called out in the nursing chapter of code and do not fit neatly into existing delegation language. She cited "chapter 54" language on nursing delegation and IDAPA nursing rules as the statutory and regulatory context the bill amends.

Robert Vandermeer, who identified himself as a supporter and described clinical delegation dynamics, testified in favor. He told the committee that clinics have evolved so that physicians may visit less frequently while nurses and medical assistants perform many day‑to‑day tasks, and that enabling nurse delegation to medical assistants helps maintain care in smaller clinics.

Representative Healy and several senators said the bill is intentionally written with general language to avoid restricting existing clinic delegation practices; Healy said some organizations have detailed can/cannot lists already and the bill was not intended to supersede those local arrangements.

Senator Keiser moved to send House Bill 327 to the floor with a due pass recommendation; Senator Blaylock seconded. The voice vote carried with no opposed recorded in the transcript and the committee recommended the bill to the floor.

The committee record does not include further amendments or a roll-call vote; the measure will proceed to the full Senate for consideration.