Scope of Practice

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Scope of practice expansion has been a hot-button issue within medical communities and state legislatures for more than thirty years. The debate is centered on what services advanced practice providers (“APPs”) who hold Master’s Degrees (e.g., Physician Assistants, Nurse Practitioners, Pharmacists, Dental Hygienists, etc.) should or should not be able to furnish in their professional practices. Scope of practice is defined by state regulatory boards, often based on limitations established by state legislatures.
Continue Reading Debate Continues Around Scope of Practice Expansion for APPs

As noted in our March 31, 2020 blog article, “Strategies in Responding to COVID-19: Expanding Scope of Practice to Increase Patient Access to Healthcare” and in our May 8, 2020 blog article, “COVID-19: Medical Liability for Expanded Scope of Services,” the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed limitations in the healthcare system that have impeded access to medical care, often for rural, low-income, and minority communities. In order to increase healthcare access, many states and the federal government have worked to (i) expand the scope of practice for different types of non-physician practitioners (“NPPs”) to provide a wider range of healthcare services; (ii) eliminate or relax physician supervision requirements so that NPPs can practice independently without having to rely on physicians who are, themselves, scarce healthcare resources; and (iii) insulate NPPs from liability for the provision of those healthcare services that fall outside of their traditional scopes of practice.
Continue Reading The Scope-of-Practice Debate Takes Center Stage: The 2021 Medicare Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Prospective Payment System Final Rule

As discussed in a prior blog post, in order to manage the unprecedented medical need due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some states have loosened scope of practice restrictions imposed on healthcare professionals. The relaxing of these restrictions has enabled registered nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, pharmacists and other health care professionals to provide certain medical services that are outside the scope of practice permitted under the practitioner’s license during the COVID-19 crisis.
Continue Reading COVID-19: Medical Liability for Expanded Scope of Services

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues and our health system is pushed to and beyond capacity, lawmakers and stakeholders are assessing different ways to handle the incredible volume of patients suddenly needing care. One approach being examined, largely at the state level although supported at the federal level, is expanding the scope of practice for different types of individual health care providers.
Continue Reading Strategies in Responding to COVID-19: Expanding Scope of Practice to Increase Patient Access to Healthcare