Physician societies oppose APRN compact that alters state scope-of-practice laws

The Arizona Medical Association has announced they have joined 83 national specialty and state medical societies to urged the National Council of State Boards of Nursing to reconsider certain provisions of the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Compact (APRN Compact) that would alter state laws related to APRN scope of practice.

In a May 10, 2018 letter to NCSBN, the organizations wrote, “Of the health professional licensure compacts in existence, the APRN Compact is the only compact that changes the health professional’s scope of practice.”

The letter asks NCSBN to remove or substantially revise the sections of the compact that grant prescriptive authority and allow APRNs to practice independent of a supervisory or collaborative relationship with a physician, notwithstanding state law to the contrary.

PCMS and ArMA support physician-led, team-based care that emphasizes increased coordination over provider autonomy.