Contact Your Legislator

Legislative Need:

HB 1773 remains in the House Emerging Issues Committee awaiting a vote. This bill is the transition to practice bill granting APRNs a path to independent practice after demonstrating a 2000-hour period working under a collaborative practice agreement. There are currently 7 members of the committee who would benefit from CONSTITUENT phone calls and emails.

Those members are as follows:

• -  Rep. Bill Hardwick – Dixon – 573-751-3834

• -  Rep. Bishop Davidson – Republic – 573-751-2381

• -  Rep. Dane Diehl – Butler – 573-751-4065

• -  Rep. David Tyson Smith – Columbia – 573-751-9753

• -  Rep. Dave Hinman – Jefferson County (Arnold) – 573-751-2176

• -  Rep. Adam Schnelting – St. Charles – 573-751-5365

• -  Rep. Holly Jones – Eureka – 573-751-7535

  It is important that these calls are from constituents only at this time. If any of the aforementioned representatives are YOUR representative, (find out here: www.house.mo.gov and scroll down to the find your representative at the bottom of the page) please contact them ASAP and use the following talking points:

• APRNs are an immediate solution to the current health care access problem plaguing Missouri

• APRNs reside or work in every county in Missouri

• APRNs naturally collaborate with the entire health care delivery team including

  physicians, nurses, specialists, mental health, and social workers. It does NOT need to be

  mandated

• Costs of maintaining collaborative practice agreements can be $50,000 per year or

  more. This only raises the costs of health care, including those on Medicaid

• The pool of collaborating physicians is increasingly smaller and often times it is impossible

  to find a willing collaborator

• Missouri’s current health care outcomes are embarrassingly low. States with independent

  APRN practice have higher health ratings and markedly better outcomes

• APRNs cannot practice outside the scope of their training and education. Doing so

  would result in the discipline or revocation of their license

• APRNs are moving to surrounding states that allow independent practice because they

  are restricted from doing so in their own communities

  If you are a constituent of any of the above representatives, please call their offices and ask to speak with them. If staff indicates that they are not available, ask for a call back or to set up a time to visit with them over the phone or in person. It is CRITICAL that you identify yourself as a constituent, keep your comments brief, and focus on why the transition to practice is good for patients. Do NOT make it about a turf war between doctors vs. nurses.

  If you do connect with your representative, please email AMNP at nursepractitioners@missourinp.org and let them know how the conversation went.

  Thank you to all those who take the time to reach out. It truly can make a difference and we are grateful for your willingness to engage.