Educate APPs on practice scope expansion
Practitioners’ scopes of practice are primarily established by the state, rather than the federal, government. Hospitals then determine allowed practice parameters within state boundaries. In other words, if a state has expanded the scope of an advanced practice professional’s (APP) practice, hospitals aren’t required to follow suit. NPs, for example, may be granted a certain level of independence at the state level, but individual hospitals reserve the right to limit that scope based on their operational circumstances and patient populations.
Obligations aside, failing to consider expanding APP scopes in accordance with state law may cause facilities to miss out on a tremendous opportunity to better meet their community’s evolving needs. Today’s free resource is a sample letter that serves two purposes:
- Informing APPs about a regulatory change’s immediate effects (or lack thereof) on their practice scope
- Calling for reevaluation of the hospital’s current policy on the scope