Physician Scope of Practice Delegation Laws

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In every state physicians can broadly practice medicine under the law. This can include diagnosing, treating, correcting, advising or prescribing medication. In many states, physicians can also delegate their activities to nurses, physician assistants or other medical professionals to deliver care more efficiently and effectively.

In some states, all of these medical professionals may practice independently, while in others, they must be supervised, or they must enter into some type of agreement granting permission to practice under a physician. Within these agreements, physicians may delegate some or all of their scope of practice to these other medical professionals.

This dataset identifies variation in state laws that explicitly define medical activities included in a physician's scope of practice, and addresses a physician's ability to delegate those medical activities to nurse practitioners, registered nurses, and physician assistants. It also explores the liability for medical errors in every state.

This page has been updated through April 30, 2015.