Legislation that would eliminate the current requirement that advanced practice nurses (APRNs) collaborate with a physician has once again been introduced in the Ohio Legislature.
Many of you will recall this issue from the last General Assembly. In 2016, after 18 months of working with elected officials and the nurses, the bill that was ultimately passed made amenable modifications to the APRN scope of practice, but did NOT include independent practice authority. We achieved that victory because together, we successfully advocated for the physician-led, team-based approach to care.
However, just a short time later, this concerning issue is back, and House Bill (HB) 726 seeks to fundamentally change how physicians and APRNs work together safely and effectively.
We need your help! Contact your elected officials today to urge them not to support this legislation.
Legislators need to understand that physicians and APRNs are not interchangeable, and that Ohio physicians will not stand for this unnecessary and unsafe change to APRN scope of practice!
As a family physician in Ohio, I am opposed to HB 726, a proposal to give independent practice to advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs). In 2016, legislation passed that made modifications to APRN scope but allowing APRN independent practice authority was rejected by the Ohio General Assembly. Now, just two years later, APNRs are back with another attempt to fundamentally change how physicians and APRNs work together.
APRNs have a unique and important role in health care but have not completed medical school and residency training that affords them with the same knowledge, training, experience, and skills as those who have. The training of an APRN is more equivalent to a third year medical student than a primary care physician who has completed four years of medical school and a three-year residency program.
HB 726 fragments health care. Independent practice for additional health professionals undermines team-based care creating silos and further fragmenting patient care.
APRNs would have you believe that HB 726 is about access to care and that if passed, APRNs will flock to underserved areas to provide primary care. The truth is there is nothing, under current standard care arrangements, preventing an APRN from going to a rural community right now. Only 12% of APRNs practice in out-patient settings. Most APRNs are practicing in sub-specialties, not primary care; only an estimated 30% to 35% of APRNs practice primary care.
Please oppose HB 726. The roles of a physician and a nurse are not interchangeable. This proposed change to APRN scope of practice is unnecessary and unsafe.