Ask the Board of Nursing: Collaborating Physician for Prescriptive Authority

The current ASMB Regulation 30 mandates that collaborating physicians must maintain an active clinical practice located either in Arkansas or a contiguous border county of a neighboring state. The experience of numerous APRNs across the state shows this rigid geographic restriction creates an insurmountable barrier to establishing compliant collaborative agreements, as many platforms designed to connect APRNs with supervising physicians only offer partners who are licensed in Arkansas but whose primary practice sites are located in non-contiguous states (e.g., NY, MI, CA). For APRNs who have not yet achieved full independent practice authority, seeking affordable oversight often requires utilizing certain platforms; however, these marketplaces fail the geographical test mandated by the ASMB, increasing overhead and limiting access to care, particularly in rural and underserved areas. Given this compliance failure, I acknowledge that it would be against the ASBN's mandate for an APRN to knowingly sign an agreement with a physician who violates the mandatory location requirements of Regulation 30, as that action would risk the APRN's prescriptive authority and license integrity. Do you have any suggestions on how to find physician collaborators with an active practice within the state or neighboring one? Thank you.

We have no control or authority over the ASMB Rules and Regulations. You will need to consult with your ANPA colleagues for how to locate a collaborating physician. We do not have that information. ASBN Rules require the physician be licensed by the ASMB and hold an unencumbered EA registration if there will be controlled substance prescribing.