Senate Bill 94 would allow nurse practitioners to practice without a collaborating physician and bestow them more authority to prescribe controlled substances, Commonwealth Journal reported March 15.
The bill has already passed the state's senate and house of representatives. It is awaiting approval from Gov. Andy Beshear.
The legislation is meant to improve access to care in rural areas by allowing nurse practitioners to keep their practices open in the event they can't find a physician to partner with them.
Nurse practitioners would also no longer have to pay for physician collaboration, which can amount to $5,000 a month, according to the publication.
In order to prescribe controlled substances, nurse practitioners in the state will need to have a current Drug Enforcement Administration registration and have maintained the registration within the state's all schedule prescription electronic reporting system.
Nurse practitioners with their own practice would still be subject to random audits by the state's board of nursing.