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2000 SESSION

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HB 818 Nurse practitioners; prescriptive authority.

Introduced by: Jeannemarie Devolites | all patrons    ...    notes | add to my profiles

SUMMARY AS PASSED: (all summaries)

Health professions; nurse practitioners. Expands the prescriptive authority of nurse practitioners, as follows: Schedules V and VI controlled substances on and after July 1, 2000; Schedules IV through VI on and after January 1, 2002; and Schedules III through VI controlled substances on and after July 1, 2003. Currently, nurse practitioners'prescriptive authority is limited to Schedule VI drugs. The bill also removes from the Boards of Nursing and Medicine the responsibility of developing a formulary for the specific drugs that nurse practitioners are allowed to prescribe and requires the supervising physician to develop a written agreement with each nurse practitioner under his supervision listing the controlled substances the nurse practitioner is or is not authorized to prescribe. In addition to the requirement of periodic site visits by physicians who supervise nurse practitioners which is currently in the law, the joint regulations of the Boards of Nursing and Medicine will include requirements for continued nurse practitioner competency, e.g., continuing education, testing, and/or any other requirement. The regulations must also address the need to promote ethical practice, an appropriate standard of care, patient safety, the use of new pharmaceuticals, and appropriate communication with patients. A second enactment clause requires the Joint Commission on Health Care, with the full cooperation of the Medical Society of Virginia, the Old Dominion Medical Society, the Board of Medicine, the Board of Nursing, and nurse practitioner associations, to study nurse practitioner prescriptive authority as provided in this act to determine the impact of the authority to prescribe Schedules III through VI controlled substances and devices on patient care, provider relationships, third-party reimbursement, physician practices, and patient satisfaction with nurse practitioner treatment. A preliminary report on this study must be provided by the Joint Commission to the Senate Committee on Education and Health and the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions by July 1, 2003. The Joint Commission must complete its work in time to submit its written findings and recommendations to the Governor and 2004 General Assembly as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents.


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