COVID-19 – Governor Whitmer Issues Executive Order To Temporarily Relax Scope of Practice

Posted by donna@healthlawcenterplc.com in Mar, 2020

Recently Governor Gretchen Whitmer issued Executive Order No. 2020-30 (COVID-19) temporary suspending scope of practice, supervision, and delegation requirements to allow licensed, registered and certified health care professionals to provide necessary medical services to support the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This Executive Order applies to healthcare professionals working in:

• Ambulance operations, aircraft transport operations, non-transport, pre-hospital life support operations, and medical first response services;
• County medical care facilities;
• Freestanding surgical outpatient facilities;
• Health maintenance organizations;
• Homes for the aged;
• Hospitals;
• Nursing homes;
• Hospices;
• Hospice residences; and
• State-owned surgical centers, outpatient facilities, veteran facilities, and other entities  used as surge capacity.

The temporary suspension of scope of practice, supervision and delegation allows:

• Advanced practice registered nurses, including nurse anesthetists to provide services consistent with advanced practice registered nurses’, education, training and experience;
• Registered nurses and licensed practical nurses to order the collection of throat or nasopharyngeal swab specimens from individuals suspected of being infected by COVID-19;
• Licensed practical nurses to provide medical services, without registered nurse supervision, provided services are consistent with licensed practical nurses’  education, training and experience;
• Physician assistants to provide medical services without a written practice agreement with a physician, provided such practice is consistent with physician assistants’ education, training and experience; and
• Pharmacists to provide care for routine health  maintenance, chronic disease states, or similar conditions, consistent with pharmacists’ education, training and experience.
• Health care facilities, as approved in consultation with the facilities medical leadership, are temporarily authorized to:
  • Allow registered or certified health professionals students (currently enrolled in programs) to volunteer or work within a facility in whatever roles are necessary to support the facility’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and which are consistent with the student’s education, training, and experience; and
  • Allow medical students, physical therapists, and emergency medical technicians to volunteer or work within a facility as “respiratory therapist extenders” under the supervision of physicians, respiratory therapists, or advanced practice registered nurses.  Such extender duties may include the operation of ventilators or related devices.  This does not prevent these extenders from providing other services that are necessary to support a facility’s response to COVID-19 pandemic, consistent with their education, training, and experience.
• Any drug manufacturer or wholesale distributor of prescription drugs with a license in good standing in another state is temporarily authorized to distribute and ship controlled substances into Michigan.  Any license that is subject to a limitation in another state is subject to the same limitation in Michigan.
• Health care facilities may temporarily use qualified volunteers and qualified personnel from other facilities as if those volunteers or personnel were affiliated with the facility.  This authorization is subject to any terms or conditions established by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
• Unlicensed volunteers and students at health care facilities who perform activities to support the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic are entitled to the same rights and immunities provided by law for the employees of Michigan.
• Licensed healthcare professionals and health care facilities that provide medical services in support of the COVID-19 pandemic response are not liable for any injury sustained by a person unless it is established that such injury or death was caused by gross negligence.
• This Executive Order temporarily suspends licensing, certification and registration requirements, such as fingerprinting and continuing education requirements.
• For those individuals who hold basic and advanced cardiac life support or first aid certifications, those certifications will remain in effect while the emergency declaration is in effect even if they are due to expire.

During this unprecedented time should you have any questions as to how the Governor’s Executive Order impacts your professional services, contact The Health Law Center.

Read Executive Order No. 2020-30