For Ohio’s Advanced Practice Registered Nurses, the name or number attached to legislation may change. The goal does not. OAAPN remains focused on removing an unnecessary barrier that can stand between qualified clinicians and the patients who need care.
OAAPN continues to support Better Access to Care, including the removal of Ohio’s Standard Care Arrangement requirement for APRNs. The SCA is more than an administrative requirement. It ties an APRN’s ability to practice to a state-mandated contract with a collaborating physician or podiatrist, even when the APRN is already educated, nationally certified, and licensed to provide that care.
That barrier is especially serious in rural and underserved communities. When an eligible collaborating physician is unavailable, unwilling to enter an arrangement, or leaves a community, an APRN may be unable to begin or continue practicing. Patients can lose a trusted provider, face longer travel and wait times, or go without timely care altogether.
The Issue Is Access
Ohioans rely on APRNs in primary care, specialty care, behavioral health, women’s health and many other settings. For OAAPN, the discussion surrounding the SCA has always been larger than a single piece of legislation. It is about how Ohio structures its healthcare workforce and whether administrative requirements create unnecessary obstacles between qualified providers and the patients who need them.
Under current Ohio law, certified nurse practitioners, certified nurse-midwives, and clinical nurse specialists must maintain a written SCA with a collaborating physician or podiatrist as a condition of practice. State rules also require the arrangement to meet specific requirements and require APRNs to notify the Ohio Board of Nursing of their collaborating physician or podiatrist.
The practical consequences can be immediate. If an APRN loses a collaborating physician or cannot find an eligible physician in the same or a similar specialty, the APRN’s ability to care for patients may be disrupted. In a rural community with fewer providers, replacing that arrangement may be especially difficult. A mandated contract should not determine whether a qualified APRN can keep a clinic open, continue seeing established patients, or bring care to a community that already has limited options.
Removing the SCA would not expand an APRN’s legal scope of practice. It would allow APRNs to practice to the top of the education, national certification, licensure, and scope they already hold.
Collaboration Would Continue
Healthcare is collaborative by nature. APRNs consult physicians, pharmacists, therapists, nurses, and other healthcare professionals based on their patients’ needs. That collaboration would continue without a state-mandated contract.
Removing the SCA would change the practice framework, not the professional qualifications or legal scope of an APRN. APRNs would remain responsible for practicing within their education, national certification, licensure, and applicable Ohio law. Clinical consultation would continue when a patient’s condition calls for it.
Ohio Is Part of a National Conversation
Ohio is not considering this issue in isolation. For nurse practitioners, 27 states and the District of Columbia have removed mandated physician-relationship requirements from the practice framework. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs also maintains a national framework that allows eligible APRNs within the VA system to practice to the top of their education, training, and certification, subject to federal policy and credentialing.
These models show that removing a mandated contract does not mean removing standards or collaboration. It means allowing licensure, certification, and patient needs, rather than the availability of a contracting physician, to guide whether a qualified APRN can provide care.
The Legislative Path May Change
The Ohio General Assembly’s schedule and the legislative process can change quickly, particularly later in a legislative session. The proposal may move under a different bill number or be incorporated into another legislative package. OAAPN will continue to focus on the policy itself: Better Access to Care through the removal of the SCA.
A bill number is temporary. The barrier facing APRNs and patients is not.
Ohio APRNs: Contact Your Legislators Now
If the SCA has delayed care, limited your ability to practice, affected a job opportunity, or created a particular challenge in a rural or underserved community, your legislators need to hear that story.
Contact your Ohio senator and state representative today. Call, write, or request a meeting to explain how the mandated SCA affects your practice and the patients you serve. Ask them to support the passage of Better Access to Care legislation this year.
Personal examples help lawmakers understand what this requirement looks like in real communities. Be specific about the patients affected, the distance to alternative care, the time needed to secure a new arrangement, or the services that could be lost. Then ask your legislator for a clear commitment to help remove this barrier before the legislative session ends.
OAAPN will continue monitoring activity in the Ohio General Assembly and sharing advocacy updates with members. Whatever legislative vehicle moves forward, the goal remains the same: let qualified APRNs practice to the top of their education, certification, and licensure so more Ohioans can access timely care.
