[Effective 1/1/2025]

(a) The board of medical examiners, in consultation with the board of osteopathic examination, shall promulgate rules applicable to graduate physicians that are consistent with the guidelines established for federally funded clinics. The rulemaking authority granted to the board of medical examiners in this subsection (a) does not extend to graduate physician collaborative practice arrangements of hospital employees providing inpatient care within hospitals.
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 63-20-110

  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Graduate physician: means a medical school graduate who:
    (A) Is a resident and citizen of the United States or a legal resident alien in the United States. See Tennessee Code 63-20-102
  • Graduate physician collaborative practice arrangement: means an agreement between a licensed physician and a graduate physician that meets the requirements of this chapter. See Tennessee Code 63-20-102
  • Primary care services: means medical services in pediatrics, internal medicine, and family medicine. See Tennessee Code 63-20-102
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b) The state board of medical examiners or board of osteopathic examination shall not deny, revoke, suspend, or otherwise take disciplinary action against a collaborating physician for primary care services delegated to a graduate physician as long as the provisions of this section and any applicable rules promulgated by the board of medical examiners are satisfied.
(c) Within thirty (30) days of any licensure change, the state board of medical examiners or board of osteopathic examination must require every physician to identify whether the physician is engaged in a graduate physician collaborative practice arrangement, and to report to the board the name of each graduate physician with whom the physician has entered into an arrangement. The board may make the information available to the public. The board shall track the reported information and may routinely conduct reviews or inspections to ensure that the arrangements are being carried out in compliance with this chapter.
(d) A contract or other agreement cannot require a physician to act as a collaborating physician for a graduate physician against the physician’s will. A physician has the right to refuse to act as a collaborating physician, without penalty, for a particular graduate physician. A contract or other agreement cannot limit the collaborating physician’s authority over any protocols or standing orders, or delegate the physician’s authority to a graduate physician. However, this subsection (d) does not authorize a physician in implementing protocols, standing orders, or delegation to violate applicable standards for safe medical practice established by a hospital’s medical staff.
(e) A contract or other agreement cannot require a graduate physician to serve as a graduate physician for any collaborating physician against the graduate physician’s will. A graduate physician has the right to refuse to collaborate, without penalty, with a particular physician.
(f) All collaborating physicians and graduate physicians under a graduate physician collaborative practice arrangement must wear identification badges while acting within the scope of the arrangement. The identification badges must prominently display the licensure status of the collaborating physician and the graduate physician.
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