AMA seeks enforcement of nonphysician rules
AMA seeks enforcement of nonphysician rules
The American Medical Association (AMA) is lobbying the Health Care Financing Admini-stration (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 that 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 advance practice nurses are limited to approved services;
• limit distribution and renewal of Medicare billing numbers to advance practice nurses who comply with these requirements;
• issue detailed instructions to Medicare carriers about implementing a system to ensure nurse compliance.
• Jay Williams, Principal, Arista Associates, Northbrook, IL. E-mail: [email protected]. com.
• John Knapp, JD, Attorney, Cozen and O’Connor, Philadelphia. Telephone: (215) 665-4660. E-mail:[email protected].
• Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC. Web site: http://www.hhs. gov/oig.
• Health Care Financing Administration, Medicare Training, Baltimore. Web site: http:// www.medicaretraining.com.
• Dick Haines, Medical Design International, Tucker, GA. Telephone: (770) 939-7950. E-mail: [email protected].
• Julia Schopick, Public Relations for Profes-sionals, Oak Park, IL. Telephone: (708) 848-4788. E-mail: [email protected].
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