Practice Agreement · NP
Nurse Practitioner Practice Agreement in Oregon
Oregon law does not require a Nurse Practitioner to hold a named agreement with a physician. Practices still use one to define the working relationship; here is what it covers and what the state does require.
OAR 851-050-0005(5): NPs are 'independently responsible and accountable' for managing patient care. No collaborating/supervising physician, written agreement, or experience threshold is required by ORS 678 or OAR 851 division 50 — Oregon has recognized independent NP practice since 1979.
What a Nurse Practitioner practice agreement covers in Oregon
Governed by the Oregon State Board of Nursing and the Oregon Board of Pharmacy. Each numbered item is a statutory requirement the agreement must satisfy.
Oregon does not require the Nurse Practitioner to enter into a supervision or collaboration agreement with a physician. The Nurse Practitioner practices, diagnoses, and prescribes, including Schedule II through V controlled substances, under the Nurse Practitioner's own license, consistent with ORS 678.375 and 678.390.
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 Oregon law as a condition of the Nurse Practitioner's authority to practice.
- The agreement on file also carries 1 scope, 1 education, 1 registration clauses, generated in the document itself.
Statutes and rules cited
- OAR 855-019-0260regulation
Oregon Board of Pharmacy rule governing Collaborative Drug Therapy Management (CDTM) protocols between a pharmacist and a practitioner.
Terms it has to carry
Ratio, proximity, chart review, meeting and prescribing terms the agreement has to carry, from the state's supervision rules.
Proximity
No proximity requirement
No physician availability/proximity standard is codified for NP practice — consistent with full independent-practice status.
Supervision ratio
Not codified — no cap on file
Chart review
Not codified — left to the agreement
Meeting cadence
Not codified — left to the agreement
Prescriptive authority
Covered by the practice agreement · controlled substances permitted
Prescriptive authority requires Board approval/registration but is not gated by any physician agreement.
Written agreement
Not required
Unconditional — no Oregon statute or Board of Nursing rule conditions NP practice on a physician agreement, at any experience level.
Practice ownership (corporate practice of medicine)
Licensee-only ownership required — Professional corporation under ORS 58.376 — NPs may jointly hold all voting shares/board seats with physicians and PAs, or wholly own an NP-only professional corporation; no physician ownership is required.
ORS 58.376(3)-(4) bars a non-licensee, or a licensee acting outside their own scope, from directing or controlling another licensee's professional judgment.
Legal sources for these rules (5)
- ORS 678.010 — Definitions (nurse practitioner, clinical nurse specialist, CRNA)secondary
- ORS 678.390 — Board authorization of prescriptive authoritysecondary
- OAR 851-050-0005 — Nurse Practitioner Scope of Practicesecondary
- OAR 851-050-0004 — Nurse Practitioner Practice Requirements (hours-based licensure renewal/re-entry pathways; no physician-collaboration language)secondary
- ORS 58.376 — Professional corporations: physician/PA/NP joint ownershipsecondary
About Oregon's rules
Oregon has no physician-supervision requirement for NP/CNS/CRNA and replaced PA 'supervision' with a non-supervisory 'collaboration agreement' (ORS 677.495-677.525, recodified by H.B. 4010, eff. June 6, 2024). CNM and PMHNP are population foci under the single NP license (OAR 851-050-0005), not separate license categories. CRNA/CNS entity co-ownership with physicians is unconfirmed — ORS 58.376 names only physicians, PAs, and NPs.
Other clinicians in Oregon: see the state overview.