AMA seeks enforcement of nonphysician rules
The American Medical Association (AMA) is lobbying the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) to get more aggressive in making nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists stay within their designated scope of practice guidelines. In a petition filed with HCFA, the AMA alleges the agency has not made any serious attempts to enforce provisions in the Social Security Act requiring such advance practice nurses work only in collaboration with a physician — and in accordance with their state’s practice requirements. The petition asks HCFA to:
• implement a system to ensure Medicare payments to advance practice nurses are made only in connection with services furnished in collaboration with a physician and within their state law’s scope of practice requirements;
• conduct audits to ensure Medicare payments to advanced practice nurses are limited
to approved services;
• limit distribution and renewal of Medicare billing numbers to advance practice nurses who comply with those requirements;
• issue detailed instructions to Medicare carriers about implementing a system to ensure nurse compliance.
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