Court cases show that physicians continually underestimate their liability in supervising nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs).
Even in states that have abolished requirements that NPs be physician-supervised, physicians may still be liable by virtue of employing the NP, according to William P. Sullivan, DO, an attorney and emergency physician in Frankfort, Illinois.
Indeed, the vast majority of lawsuits against NPs and PAs name the supervising physician. According to a study of claims against NPs from 2011 to 2016, 82% of the cases also named the supervising physician.
Employed or contracted physicians assigned to supervise NPs or PAs are also affected, Sullivan said. “The employed physicians’ contract with a hospital or staffing company may require them to assist in the selection, supervision, and/or training of NPs or PAs,” he said. He added that supervisory duties may also be assigned through hospital bylaws.
“The physician is usually not paid anything extra for this work and may not be given extra time to perform it,” Sullivan said. But still, he said, that physician could be named in a lawsuit and wind up bearing some responsibility for an NP’s or PA’s mistake.
In addition to medical malpractice suits, Sullivan said state licensure boards often sanction doctors for improperly supervising NPs and Pas. Licensure boards often require extensive protocols for supervision of NPs and PAs.
Yet More States Are Removing Supervision Requirements
With the addition of Kansas and New York in 2022 and Utah in 2023, 27 states no longer require supervision for all or most NPs. Sixteen of those states, including New York and California, have instituted progressive practice authority that requires temporary supervision of new NPs but then removes supervision after a period of 6 months to 4 years, depending on the state, for the rest of their career.
“When it comes to NP independence, the horse is already out of the barn,” Sullivan said. “It’s unlikely that states will repeal laws granting NPs independence, and in fact, more states are likely to pass them.”
PAs, in contrast, are well behind NPs in achieving independence, but the American Academy of Physician Associates (AAPA) is calling to eliminate a mandated relationship with a specific physician. So far, North Dakota and Rhode Island have ended physician supervision of PAs, while California and Hawaii have eliminated mandated chart review, according to the AAPA. Other states are considering eliminating physician supervision of PAs.
In states that have abolished oversight requirements for NPs, “liability can then shift to the NP when the NP is fully independent,” Cathy Klein, an advanced practice registered nurse who helped found the NP profession 50 years ago, told Medscape. “More NPs are starting their own practices, and in many cases, patients actually prefer to see an NP.”