Pennsylvania Hospital Lobby Compromised on New Bill Granting Nurse Practitioners Full Practice Authority

Full practice authority for nurse practitioners has been an ongoing debate nationwide, but a new Pennsylvania bill announced last week could be a major step toward a breakthrough giving more practice rights to experienced nurse practitioners.

Officially announced last Monday, the compromise bill agreed to by Pennsylvania’s largest hospital lobby will grant nurse practitioners full practice authority after three years practicing under a physician’s supervision and completing 3,600 working hours. The proposal includes granting full practice authority to nurse practitioners licensed in another state as long as they meet the three-year, 3,600-hour requirement.

Part of the Hospital Association of Pennsylvania’s agreement to back the new bill was because it allows nurse practitioners to serve patients without signing costly collaborative agreements with physicians. These mandatory collaboration agreements make health care more expensive for patients without increasing quality of care. The agreements can cost thousands of dollars per year, while the supervising physicians rarely see patients being treated by nurse practitioners.

A nurse practitioner from Bucks County, PA said he spends $25,000 a year on collaborative agreements with two physicians, an unnecessary cost that would be better used to provide more services to patients and lower overall costs. The Pennsylvania Coalition of Nurse Practitioners is pleased with the state hospital lobby’s agreement, calling it a “game-changer” for its reform that will benefit patients, taxpayers, hospitals, and health systems.

State legislatures have long opposed giving full practice authority to nurse practitioners, arguing that the collaborative agreements ensure that physicians remain part of the overall patient treatment plan because of their additional training and medical skills. However, many studies have shown that patients treated regularly by nurse practitioners need fewer hospital visits and generally have better health outcomes due to their regular contact with medical professionals. Full practice authority for nurse practitioners could be especially beneficial in Pennsylvania where more than 16 percent of the population is over age 65, the fourth highest percentage of any state.