Proposed Delaware Regulation Expands APRN Delegation to Medical Assistants

On June 9, 2022, I sent a letter to the executive director of the Delaware Board of Nursing regarding proposed regulations that would allow advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs), including nurse practitioners, to delegate to educated and credentialed medical assistants the administration of medication.

Read the full letter here:

I am writing on behalf of the American Association of Medical Assistants® (AAMA), the national professional society for medical assistants, in regard to the following proposed addition to the regulations of the Delaware Board of Nursing (BON):

8.7.15.1 APRNs are authorized to assign and supervise medication administration to a medical assistant if the medical assistant has successfully completed a medical assistant training program and possesses current national medical assistant certification.

8.7.15.1.1 If a practice is solely operated by APRNs, the APRN must be present in the building when the medical assistant is administering medications and assumes liability for the actions of the medical assistant.

8.7.15.2 When a physician delegates to a medical assistant, and an organizational policy exists to allow the APRN to assign and supervise the medical assistant, the physician retains responsibility and accountability for the actions of the medical assistant and will be notified of unsafe or improper practices.

It is the position of the AAMA that medical assistants who have completed a medical assistant training program that includes medication administration theory and technique, and who have a current national medical assistant certification such as the CMA (AAMA)® that tests knowledge needed to safely administer medication, should be permitted to administer medication under the authority of APRNs—including nurse practitioners—and other licensed independent practitioners such as physicians.

The AAMA commends the Delaware BON for increasing the availability of safe and accessible health care for the residents of Delaware by proposing this revision to the BON regulations.

Clarification of Medication Administration Delegation to Medical Assistants in Oklahoma

I had the opportunity to present at the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) Medical Practice Excellence: Leaders Conference in October 2021. The title of my presentation was “Utilizing Medical Assistants to the Top of Their Training: How Recent Law Changes Have Expanded Their Scope of Work.” After this presentation, I received the following question from an osteopathic physician practicing in Oklahoma:

I am writing to you to get a follow-up opinion on the delegatory ability of advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) to medical assistants under Oklahoma law. I have seen your opinion letter on the AAMA website about the delegatory role of physicians to medical assistants and understand that you believe that the verbiage from the Oklahoma Allopathic Medical and Surgical Licensure and Supervision Act authorizes physicians (both MDs [doctors of medicine] and DOs [doctors of osteopathic medicine]) to delegate tasks to a medical assistant through licensed nonphysician providers, such as physician assistants and nurse practitioners.

How can your opinion be reconciled with the Oklahoma Board of Nursing (BON) statement on delegation of tasks by licensed nurses (including APRNs) to unlicensed allied health professionals such as medical assistants? Section F of the Oklahoma BON statement specifically mentions the administering of medications as not eligible for delegation by nurses to unlicensed persons.

The physician’s understanding of my legal opinion letter is correct. The relevant language I cite from the Oklahoma Medical and Surgical Licensure and Supervision Act is as follows:

E. Nothing in the Oklahoma Allopathic Medical and Surgical Licensure and Supervision Act shall prohibit:

1. The service rendered by a physician’s unlicensed trained assistant [which would include a medical assistant] if such service is rendered under the supervision and control of a licensed physician pursuant to Board rules, provided such rules are not in conflict with the provisions of any other healing arts licensure act or rules promulgated pursuant to such act

I am familiar with the statement of the Oklahoma BON regarding delegation to unlicensed persons. I agree that the position of the Oklahoma BON is that nurses are not permitted to delegate to unlicensed professionals such as medical assistants the administration of medication.

In terms of reconciling my letter and the position of the Oklahoma Board of Nursing, my legal opinion is that a physician is permitted to assign to a registered nurse (as well as an APRN such as a nurse practitioner) the supervision of a medical assistant who is administering medication as delegated to the medical assistant by the physician as long as the delegating/overseeing physician is on the premises and immediately available, although not necessarily in the same room. However, my opinion is also that—based on the policy of the Oklahoma BON—a nurse practitioner is not permitted to delegate to an unlicensed professional such as a medical assistant the administration of medication.

The AAMA Protects the Medical Assisting Right to Practice

The American Association of Medical Assistants® (AAMA) engages in state and federal advocacy to protect patients from substandard medical assisting services. This objective is achieved by drafting legislation and regulations that ensure that potentially patient-jeopardizing tasks are delegable to only knowledgeable and competent medical assistants who meet the following three standards:

• Have completed education of appropriate and adequate depth, breadth, and rigor
• Have been awarded an accredited credential—such as the CMA (AAMA)®—that measures required medical assisting knowledge and its application
• Have demonstrated continuing competence by periodic recertification

As a result of accomplishing this objective, knowledgeable and competent medical assistants are differentiated in law from other medical assistants.

As part of the AAMA mission, AAMA staff monitor and pursue advocacy opportunities on the federal and state levels that are most strategically advantageous. The following are some examples of AAMA advocacy that have increased patient protection by requiring medical assistants to have appropriate as well as adequate education and/or credentialing.

Arizona

In 2017, AAMA staff urged the Arizona Medical Board (AMB) to more precisely define approved medical assistant program in its delegation rules. The AMB saw the wisdom of the AAMA position and changed the wording of its regulations.

North Dakota

Because of a 2004 ruling by the North Dakota attorney general, medical assistants were no longer permitted to be delegated and perform medication administration. Partly through the efforts of AAMA staff, medication assistant regulations were amended to permit medical assistants who had completed an accredited program and held an accredited medical assisting credential to be delegated certain types of medication administration.

CMS meaningful use requirements of the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs

The initial set of proposed rules published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in 2010 to implement the computerized provider order entry (CPOE) requirements of the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs allowed only “licensed health care professionals” to enter orders into the CPOE system for meaningful use calculation purposes. Staff of the AAMA petitioned CMS to recognize “credentialed medical assistants,” as well as licensed professionals, for meaningful use order entry. In 2012, CMS was persuaded and changed the wording of its final rule to include “credentialed medical assistants.” This was the first time that credentialed medical assistants were distinguished from noncredentialed medical assistants in federal law.

For more information on these achievements, read the Public Affairs articles “Comments to the Arizona Medical Board” (November/December 2017), “North Dakota CMAs regain injections” (September/October 2005), and “AAMA triumphs in CMS order entry rule” (November/December 2012) in past CMA Today issues.

Ohio Passes Senate Bill 110

I am happy to report that the Ohio Legislature has passed Senate Bill (SB) 110, which has now been signed into law by Governor John Kasich. The bill becomes effective 90 days after signing.

This bill gives nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) the ability to delegate medication administration to unlicensed allied health professionals, such as medical assistants working under their supervision in outpatient settings.

See the following relevant passages from SB 110, the first from page 20 of the attached, which is the version that has passed both Houses of the Ohio legislature:

Sec. 4723.48. (A) A clinical nurse specialist, certified nurse-midwife, or certified nurse practitioner seeking authority to prescribe drugs and therapeutic devices shall file with the board of nursing a written application for a certificate to prescribe. The board of nursing shall issue a certificate to prescribe to each applicant who meets the requirements specified in section 4723.482 or 4723.485 of the Revised Code. …

(C)(1) The holder of a certificate issued under this section may delegate to a person not otherwise authorized to administer drugs the authority to administer to a specified patient a drug, other than a controlled substance, listed in the formulary established in rules adopted under section 4723.50 of the Revised Code. The delegation shall be in accordance with division (C)(2) of this section and standards and procedures established in rules adopted under division (Q) of section 4723.07 of the Revised Code.

(2) Prior to delegating the authority, the certificate holder shall do both of the following:

(a) Assess the patient and determine that the drug is appropriate for the patient;

(b) Determine that the person to whom the authority will be delegated has met the conditions specified in division (D) of section 4723.489 of the Revised Code.

Note also the following on pages 22 and 23:

Sec. 4723.489. A person not otherwise authorized to administer drugs may administer a drug to a specified patient if all of the following conditions are met:

(A) The authority to administer the drug is delegated to the person by an advanced practice registered nurse who is a clinical nurse specialist, certified nurse-midwife, or certified nurse practitioner and holds a certificate to prescribe issued under section 4723.48 of the Revised Code.

(B) The drug is listed in the formulary established in rules adopted under section 4723.50 of the Revised Code but is not a controlled substance and is not to be administered intravenously.

(C) The drug is to be administered at a location other than a hospital inpatient care unit, as defined in section 3727.50 of the Revised Code; a hospital emergency department or a freestanding emergency department; or an ambulatory surgical facility, as defined in section 3702.30 of the Revised Code.

(D) The person has successfully completed education based on a recognized body of knowledge concerning drug administration and demonstrates to the person’s employer the knowledge, skills, and ability to administer the drug safely.

(E) The person’s employer has given the advanced practice registered nurse access to documentation, in written or electronic form, showing that the person has met the conditions specified in division (D) of this section.Sub. S. B. No. 110 131st G.A. 23

(F) The advanced practice registered nurse is physically present at the location where the drug is administered.

Note the following from pages 36 and 37:

Sec. 4730.203. (A) Acting pursuant to a supervision agreement, a physician assistant may Sub. S. B. No. 110 131st G.A. 37

delegate performance of a task to implement a patient’s plan of care or, if the conditions in division (C) of this section are met, may delegate administration of a drug. Subject to division (D) of section 4730.03 of the Revised Code, delegation may be to any person. The physician assistant must be physically present at the location where the task is performed or the drug administered.

(B) Prior to delegating a task or administration of a drug, a physician assistant shall determine that the task or drug is appropriate for the patient and the person to whom the delegation is to be made may safely perform the task or administer the drug.

(C) A physician assistant may delegate administration of a drug only if all of the following conditions are met:

(1) The physician assistant has been granted physician-delegated prescriptive authority.

(2) The drug is included in the formulary established under division (A) of section 4730.39 of the Revised Code.

(3) The drug is not a controlled substance.

(4) The drug will not be administered intravenously.

(5) The drug will not be administered in a hospital inpatient care unit, as defined in section 3727.50 of the Revised Code; a hospital emergency department; a freestanding emergency department; or an ambulatory surgical facility licensed under section 3702.30 of the Revised Code.

(D) A person not otherwise authorized to administer a drug or perform a specific task may do so in accordance with a physician assistant’s delegation under this section.

“An Act Concerning Medical Assistants”: Raised Bill No. 459

On March 19 the Public Health Committee of the Connecticut legislature held a public hearing on General Assembly Raised Bill No. 459, “An Act Concerning Medical Assistants.”  This legislation was the result of a scope of practice request submitted by the American Association of Medical Assistants and the Connecticut Society of Medical Assistants (CSMA) on July 16, 2012, to the Connecticut Department of Public Health (as described in the March/April 2013 issue of CMA Today).

Raised Bill No. 459 would permit physicians to delegate to medical assistants who had graduated from an accredited postsecondary medical assisting program and who are certified by the Certifying Board of the AAMA “the administration of medication orally, by inhalation, or by intramuscular, intradermal, or subcutaneous injections, including, but not limited to, the administration of a vaccine.”  The bill would also require that the medication be administered “under the direct supervision, control, and responsibility of a physician who is in the outpatient clinic or office when such medication is administered.”

The AAMA and the CSMA submitted joint written testimony in support of Raised Bill No. 459, and Holly Martin, CMA (AAMA), of the CSMA, presented oral testimony at the March 19 hearing.  Legal Eye will keep readers informed about the outcome of Bill No. 459.