APRN and Collaborative Physician

[CLB_81]

I am currently trying to work out a collaborative agreement with the physician that will be overseeing my practice. I currently work in the state of Mississippi and have reviewed their practice laws. I am trying to find out if you have to practice the same way your physician does. For instance, if my physician was a MD in Urology, do I have to only practice with Urology type patients?

I can not find anything clarifying this on my states practice laws. Does anyone else here maybe practice under a physician that preforms different patient care?

Thanks

[DizzyJ DHSc PA-C]

From what I can see it looks like the collaborating physician must appear before the board either in person or via telephone. The board has to approve this physician and there must be protocols and chart review in place. I can't see the board approving a physician to give oversight for a specialty not within their scope of practice. Just my street smarts interpretation.

[Julius Seizure]

From what I can see it looks like the collaborating physician must appear before the board either in person or via telephone. The board has to approve this physician and there must be protocols and chart review in place. I can't see the board approving a physician to give oversight for a specialty not within their scope of practice. Just my street smarts interpretation.

I agree. It doesn't seem reasonable that an agreement with a urologist is what TPTB have in mind for collaboration with a family practitioner. I don't think it would work out, or it might initially but will come back to bite you later.

[cccs0911]

Hi

I am actually a 20 + year (veteran) credentialing guru that has worked for a large group of providers in Mississippi for over 20 years and I hear this question a lot.

The answer is no u do not have to practice the same specialty as ur collaborator. However if u r seeing family med patients your collaborator should have the basic Family or IM training. If tis not trained in Family or IM the BON might not approve ur protocols and will definitely will watch U more closely and that's not apledant experience. But since urologists go through IM training initially or most do, they do have the knowledge and training to advise u if u have a need for this and they can sign off on ur charts each month without any red flags. BUT if ur collaborator was orthopedic surgery u would have a problem since they normally go straight from Nedical School into a Orthopaedic internship/residency program. Does this make sense??

[cccs0911]

Hi

I am actually a 20 + year (veteran) credentialing guru that has worked for a large group of providers in Mississippi for over 20 years and I hear this question a lot.

The answer is no u do not have to practice the same specialty as ur collaborator. However if u r seeing family med patients your collaborator should have the basic Family or IM training. If tis not trained in Family or IM the BON might not approve ur protocols and will definitely will watch U more closely and that's not apledant experience. But since urologists go through IM training initially or most do, they do have the knowledge and training to advise u if u have a need for this and they can sign off on ur charts each month without any red flags. BUT if ur collaborator was orthopedic surgery u would have a problem since they normally go straight from Nedical School into a Orthopaedic internship/residency program. Does this make sense??

[DizzyJ DHSc PA-C]

I'd check your facts a little bit more. For instance, urology is its own surgical residency. So, a physician doesn't go through IM residency first and then do urology. Certainly, there could be combined programs. So, in general urologist does not have proper training to supervise someone in primary care. Overall, it's a bad idea to have a physician supervise you if what you are doing is not within their scope of practice. The laws in some states may not forbid this, but why would you want someone to supervise you that couldn't provide you the proper guidance. I would think this would be a huge negative for a malpractice defense should one come up.