If you run a provider network, Mississippi is the state that tells you plainly whether your model works there. It does so with three numbers and one exclusion.
Under the Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure’s collaboration rules, the collaborating physician must be within 75 miles of the primary practice location, must practise in Mississippi a minimum of 20 hours per week or 80 hours per month, and must be in a compatible practice — the same specialty, or treating the same patient population. And the hours requirement expressly excludes telemedicine hours.
The exclusion is the whole point
Plenty of states ask for availability, and telehealth has become the standard way to satisfy it. Mississippi anticipated that and closed it: telemedicine hours do not count toward the twenty.
So the requirement is not really about responsiveness. It is a requirement that your collaborating physician has a real, physical Mississippi practice — patients, premises, hours. A physician who covers Mississippi remotely from elsewhere does not qualify, however available they are.
What the agreement itself must do
- Be written and signed by both parties.
- Be filed with the Board of Nursing.
- Be retained at the practice site and available for Board inspection at any time.
- Be approved by the State Board of Medical Licensure.
“Available for inspection at any time” is worth reading literally. This is not a document you locate when asked; it is a document that lives at the site.
Compatible practice is a real filter
The physician must be in a compatible practice with the nurse practitioner — same specialty, or treating the same patient population. Pairing an aesthetics-focused nurse practitioner with a collaborating physician whose practice has no overlap is the kind of arrangement that reads badly on review, and Mississippi has written the expectation down rather than leaving it to inference.
Add the quarterly review
On top of all of that, Mississippi requires quality assurance chart review of 10% or 20 charts, whichever is fewer, each quarter. Taken together, this is the most demanding collaboration regime in our coverage.
What we tell people about Mississippi
If your plan is national coverage delivered remotely, Mississippi is a state to structure deliberately rather than to add to a list. It needs a physician with a genuine local practice, and finding one is the project. We would rather say that at the first call than discover it after an agreement has been signed.
Related reading
Frequently asked questions
How close must a Mississippi collaborating physician be?
Within 75 miles of the primary practice location.
Do telemedicine hours count toward the 20-hour requirement?
No. Telemedicine hours are expressly excluded from the minimum of 20 hours per week or 80 hours per month of Mississippi practice.
Where is the collaborative agreement filed?
It is written, signed, filed with the Board of Nursing, retained at the practice site and available for Board inspection at any time. Agreements are approved by the State Board of Medical Licensure.
What does compatible practice mean?
The physician is in the same specialty as the nurse practitioner, or treats the same patient population.
General information about Mississippi collaborative practice requirements, not legal advice. Board rules change. Confirm your obligations with healthcare counsel licensed in Mississippi.