New law makes changes to prescriptive authority

posted 11.20.13

The passing of Senate Bill 406 during the 83rd Texas Legislature revised the Texas Occupations Code with changes that were made effective Nov. 1, 2013. The most notable change replaced the site-based requirements for delegating and supervising prescriptive authority with a more collaborative model. The new framework is based on regular quality assurance evaluations and requires most practice settings to use a prescriptive authority agreement. Hospitals and long-term care facilities are the only exceptions.

SB 406 recognizes that there is no independent practice for physician assistants and advanced practice registered nurses and maintains the physician’s responsibility for delegation and supervision. This law, which was passed with the support of TAFP and other physician organizations, reinforces the idea that health care teams led by physicians can increase access to quality health care.  

No specific prescriptive authority agreement form is required by the new law, but the Texas Medical Association has created a sample form, found here, as well as a fact sheet on SB 406.