Scope of Practice

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Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont recently signed legislation to expand the scope of practice of advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs), nurse-midwives, and physician assistants (PAs) to perform certain forms of abortion.Continue Reading Connecticut Expands Advanced Practice Providers’ Scope of Practice to Include Certain Forms of Abortion

On May 8, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published an interim final rule with comment period (the “Interim Rule”) in the Federal Register, setting forth additional regulatory waivers and other changes to healthcare regulations and policies in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE). At a high level, the Interim Rule encompasses topics including expansion of telehealth, support for and expansion of COVID-19 testing, allowing certain licensed professionals to practice at the top of their licenses, Medicare payments for teaching hospitals, changes to the Medicare Shared Savings Program regarding financial methodologies, and application and risk assumption deadlines for accountable care organizations, among other changes. CMS has also updated provider-specific fact sheets on recent waivers and flexibilities, available here. Below are highlights from the Interim Rule.  Providers are encouraged to read all applicable sections of the Interim Rule in their entirety here. Comments may be submitted to CMS within 60 days of the date of publication in the Federal Register.
Continue Reading CMS Interim Rule Makes Sweeping Changes in Response to COVID-19 Public Health Emergency

The Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine (BORM) recently approved significant changes to regulations governing the licensure and practice of medicine. The new regulations became effective on August 9, 2019. Physicians and health care organizations in Massachusetts would be well-advised to review the updated regulations closely – among the new provisions are regulations that potentially will affect current practices regarding the delegation of services to non-licensed individuals, procedures for obtaining informed consent, and other aspects of medical practice.
Continue Reading Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine Makes Significant Changes to Regulations Governing Licensure and Practice of Medicine

On July 9, 2019, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed into law Public Act 19-144, “An Act Concerning A Collaborative Relationship Between Physician Assistants And Physicians” (19-144). This legislation revises the statutory definition of a “physician assistant” (PA) under Connecticut law to provide that a PA functions in a “collaborative” relationship with a physician…

On July 15, 2019, Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo signed into law “An Act Relating To Businesses and Professions – Physician Assistants” (H5572/S0443), which significantly revises the supervision requirements and expands certain aspects of the scope of practice for physician assistants (PAs) in Rhode Island, effective immediately. Among other things, the Act removes the current supervision requirements for PAs, changes the nature of the relationship between PAs and physicians to a “collaborative” arrangement, and removes the requirement that hospitals and other health care practices have written PA supervision agreements on file for PAs.
Continue Reading Rhode Island Removes Supervision Requirements for PAs in Favor of Expanded “Collaboration” Standard for PA Practice

On October 1, 2018, a number of new laws affecting health care entities in Connecticut became effective. Below please find a brief description of some of the newly-effective provisions, as well as links to our analyses of the changes.
Continue Reading Laws Affecting Health Care Entities in Connecticut Take Effect October 1, 2018