Protocol · NP · Idaho
Practice Protocol for Nurse Practitioners in Idaho
Nurse Practitioners practice independently in Idaho. A practice protocol is voluntary; here is what one covers and what the state does require.
Idaho is a full-practice-authority (FPA) state for NPs — an NP may evaluate, diagnose, and prescribe (including controlled substances, with DEA/Board of Pharmacy registration) without a collaborating physician, per Idaho Board of Nursing rule (IDAPA 24.34.01).
What a voluntary Nurse Practitioner protocol covers in Idaho
Idaho requires no written protocol for nurse practitioners. These are the clauses a practice includes when it chooses to put one in writing. The Idaho Board of Nursing and the Idaho State Board of Pharmacy governs nurse practitioners here.
Idaho does not require the Nurse Practitioner to enter into a supervision or collaboration agreement with a physician for assessment, diagnosis, treatment, or prescribing, including controlled substances, consistent with Idaho Code §§ 54-1402 and 54-1409. The Nurse Practitioner practices under the Nurse Practitioner's own license.
This Agreement's terms regarding the Nurse Practitioner accordingly serve to define the working relationship, referral pathways, and any Medical Director oversight between the Parties, and are not themselves required by Idaho law as a condition of the Nurse Practitioner's authority to practice.
- A voluntary protocol also carries 1 scope, 1 education and 1 registration clauses, authored in the document itself.
What Idaho does require
The supervision and prescribing rules that apply to nurse practitioners regardless of any protocol.
Proximity
No proximity requirement
No supervising/collaborating physician relationship is required at all for clinical practice or prescribing (IDAPA 24.34.01).
Supervision ratio
Not codified — no cap on file
Chart review
Not codified
Meeting cadence
Not codified
Prescriptive authority
No agreement needed to prescribe · controlled substances permitted
Full independent prescriptive authority, including controlled substances, subject to standard DEA/Board of Pharmacy registration.
Written agreement
Not required
Unconditional — Idaho NPs never need a physician agreement to practice their full scope.
Practice ownership (corporate practice of medicine)
Non-licensee ownership permitted — Following the Idaho Board of Medicine's 2016 corporate-practice-of-medicine disavowal, an NP may generally hold equity in a standard LLC/corporation, including one also owned by physicians or non-licensees.
Sources for the supervision rules (2)
About Idaho's rules
Idaho APRNs (NP, CRNA, CNM, CNS) have full independent practice authority. The Idaho Board of Medicine formally disavowed corporate-practice-of-medicine enforcement in March 2016, so physicians, NPs, PAs and non-licensees may generally co-own a standard business entity as long as licensed professionals deliver the care.
Other clinicians in Idaho: see the state overview.