Page 14 - APP Collaboration - Assessing the Risk (Part Two)

SVMIC Advanced Practice Provider Collaboration: Assessing the Risk

Nurse practitioners are generally regulated and governed by

the state board of nursing, while physicians and physician
assistants are generally regulated and governed by the state

medical board and/or PA committees. The boards give authority
to the physicians to exercise control over the APPs by requiring

protocols, collaborative agreements, delegation of prescriptive
authority, or other provisions.

As outlined above, generally, physicians and APPs must jointly

develop customized, written treatment protocols or CPAs
that include a range of services within the provider’s training,

education, and skill level.

The following case illustrates the potential for a supervising

and/or collaborating physician to be held accountable for acts
or omissions of the advanced practice nurse practitioner or

physician assistant.

The Tennessee Supreme Court in Cooke v. General Primary
& Urgent Care Clinic first addressed whether a Tennessee

physician could be held liable for the negligence of physician
assistants whom the physician supervises. The court
4
determined that physicians can be held liable for the negligent
injury of a patient by these physician assistants on the sole

basis that the physician supervises the physician assistant.

4 Cox v. MA Primary and Urgent Care Clinic. 313 S.W.3d 240 (2010).

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