Physicians often call the Arkansas State Medical Board inquiring as to what is this thing called a Collaborative Practice Agreement.

Your Arkansas legislature passed A.C.A. 17-87-310(a)(2) that provides that an advance practice nurse (APN) may obtain a certificate of prescriptive authority from the Arkansas State Board of Nursing if the advance practice nurse has a Collaborative Practice Agreement with a physician who is licensed under the Arkansas Medical Practices Act, and who has a practice comparable in scope, specialty or expertise to that of the advance practice nurse on file with the Arkansas State Board of Nursing.

As you are probably aware, advance practice nurses provide various levels of health care to patients. If the advance practice nurse is desirous of obtaining prescriptive authority, then pursuant to Arkansas law, they must enter into a Collaborative Practice Agreement with a physician who is licensed to practice medicine in this state, and whose medical practice is comparable in scope, specialty and expertise to that of the advance practice nurse. The legislature also defined a Collaborative Practice Agreement in A.C.A. §17- 87-102(2) as “a written plan that identifies a physician who agrees to collaborate with an advance practice nurse in the joint management of the health care of the advance practice nurse’s patients, and outlines procedures for consultation with or referral to the collaborating physician or other health care professionals as indicated by a patient’s health care needs.” (emphasis added)

The Arkansas legislature further required through A.C.A.§17-87-310(c) that a Collaborative Practice Agreement shall include but not be limited to provisions addressing: (1) The availability of the collaborating physician for