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LSBME Hearing Summary

Posted over 9 years ago by Rebecca Thibodaux

On Wednesday, September 24, the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners held a hearing to allow the public to provide oral and written comments relative to proposed rule changes regarding physician collaboration with APRNs.  APRNs were well-represented by overwhelming support from multiple organizations across the state.  In addition to statements provided by LANP, other organizations, including the Louisiana State Board of Nursing, AARP, Louisiana State Nurses Association, Department of Health and Hospitals, LA Primary Care Association, Louisiana Rural Health Association, Louisiana Affiliate of the American College of Nurse Midwives, Louisiana Council of Administrators of Nursing Education, Minute Clinic, Walgreens and Cardiovascular Institute of the South, each voiced their perspective on how the rules would affect healthcare delivery in Louisiana.  Additionally, there were several nurse practitioners who spoke about the potentially devastating effects the proposed rules would have on their clinics.

The overall resounding message to the Board was that if these rules promulgate, there will be an access to care issue in Louisiana.  However, there were several specific issues that speakers addressed repeatedly throughout the hearing.

Multiple speakers pointed out that monthly site visits to review charts for quality assurance purposes and maintaining a practice site that is geographically located to accommodate patient referrals by the APRN is supervisory in nature, an inconvenience for physicians that would ultimately drive up costs for the collaborating APRN and a potential deterrent for physicians to collaborate.  The rule also does not consider the use of electronic medical records.

Another issue discussed was the requirement of a back-up physician.  Again, this requirement would cause financial burden on the APRN and also present the additional challenge of finding a second collaborator.

Because the rules would impose multiple challenges, LANP President Dr. Tari Dilks requested the Board of Medical Examiners to completely withdraw the rules and consider ones with less far reaching implications for the residents of our state.

We would like to thank everyone who participated, whether you were in attendance, sent a letters or provided testimony.

Instructions on our next steps will follow soon.