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Featured Practice Question

Can a nurse practitioner practice if their board certification from AANC or AANP expires? Is board certification required in California?

National certification is not yet required to practice in California, but an NP must be nationally certified to bill Medicare and Medi-Cal. This does not vary for Medicare across states – an NP must have national certification regardless of the state the NP practices in.

Here is the advisory issued by the Board of Registered Nursing following the 2006 passage and signing of Assembly Bill 1691 (Chan), which authorized nurse practitioners to apply for a Medi-Cal provider number and bill Medi-Cal independent of a physician. CANP’s advocacy efforts were instrumental in enacting this change.

Another important issue to consider is that many employers now require national certification as a condition of employment.

Featured Legal Question

A pediatric neurologist from another state is planning to join my office to provide consultations remotely. The patient will still come to the office, where the online consult is being initiated. Is this legally allowed in California? She has a California medical license that can be re-activated if it's needed for her to have this set up. What are my liabilities? What are the things that I need to do to comply with California’s regulations?

She must be licensed in California if she is seeing California patients. The liability lies with the provider treating the patient.

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