Christine Jordan Sexton
At its final scheduled meeting of the year, the House Health Innovation Subcommittee will consider a bill to allow advanced registered nurse practitioners to practice independently from physicians.
Sponsored by physician and Rep. Cary Pigman, HB 547 was temporarily deferred at the panel’s meeting this past week when it appeared that it was going to fail.
The committee will tackle the bill again Wednesday when it meets at 9 a.m. It is the only bill on the agenda. The vote is expected to be razor thin with just one vote separating HB 547 from passing or failing.
The bill would allow certain advanced registered nurse practitioners to have independent practices that are registered with the state and not have to practice under the protocol of a physician. Pigman said the bill would go far to help address Florida’s looming specialty physician shortage.
The bill lays out what Pigman described as a “pathway to independence.” Only advanced nurse practitioners would be able to practice independently once they complete a graduate level pharmacology course and had 2,000 clinical nurse practitioner hours within a three-year period immediately preceding the submission of the application.
Pigman’s bill would allow advanced registered nurse practitioners to admit patients to hospitals, long-term care facilities, skilled nursing facilities hospices and intermediate care facilities for the developmentally disabled as well as manage their patients’ care. They would be able to prescribe drugs, including most controlled substances. They also would be able to provide signatures, stamps, certification affidavits or other endorsements that otherwise by law are required to be provided by a physician.
“My world view is physicians are highly successful. My world view is physicians work best when they work collegially and respectfully with other professions,” Pigman said.
He added that his opinion is at odds with organized medicine ,which he said is “physician centered. It’s not patient centered. It’s parochial. It’s resistant to change and it’s almost ossified.”
Rafael Miguel, a Tampa anesthesiologist, testified against the measure by telling committee members that the expansive scope of practice isn’t necessary. He told the committee that Florida’s reputation as the pill mill capital was a national embarrassment. “The last thing we need is a lesser-trained group of individuals to be able to write prescriptions for steroids.”
American College of Physicians lobbyist Chris Nuland opposed the measure as did the Florida Medical Association.
Pigman was able to beat back an unfriendly amendment by Rep. “Doc” Renuart that would have struck the ability for nurses to practice independently but would have kept intact advanced registered nurse practitioners’ ability to prescribe, something that the advanced registered nurse practitioners have pursued unsuccessfully for years. Additionally, it has been an issue Renuart, also a doctor, has opposed for years.
Florida Nurses Association lobbyist Alisa LaPolt called it a 180-degree turn. “He’s coming half way and that was pretty surprising,” she said.
Though the Renuart amendment was defeated, subcommittee Chairman Ken Roberson moved to temporarily defer the bill after six of the committee members said they “were down” on the bill in its current iteration.
