§51.1. Treatment facility; staff membership and institutional privileges; certain healthcare providers

A.(1) Notwithstanding any provision of the law to the contrary, the governing body of a treatment facility, as defined in R.S. 28:2, may grant staff membership, specifically delineated institutional privileges, or both, to any duly licensed, certified, or registered healthcare provider in accordance with the needs and bylaws of the treatment facility, including but not limited to a physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, medical psychologist, or psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, as defined in R.S. 28:2.

(2) Staff membership, specifically delineated institutional privileges, or both, granted to a medical psychologist shall be conditioned upon all of the following requirements:

(a) The applicant medical psychologist shall have a valid, current, unrestricted license issued to him by the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners.

(b) The applicant medical psychologist shall prescribe medications in the treatment facility only in consultation, collaboration and concurrence with the patient's primary or attending physician or psychiatrist and only in accordance with the treatment facility's staff membership or privilege granting process and restrictions, if any.

(c) The patient's primary or attending physician or psychiatrist shall have staff membership, institutional privileges, or both, at the treatment facility.

(3) Staff membership, specifically delineated institutional privileges, or both, granted to a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner shall be conditioned upon all of the following requirements:

(a) The applicant psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner shall have a valid, current, collaborative practice agreement, as defined in R.S. 37:913(9), with a psychiatrist.

(b) The applicant psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner shall have a valid, current and unrestricted advanced practice registered nurse license, as a nurse practitioner or clinical nurse specialist, issued by the Louisiana State Board of Nursing, and have been granted limited prescriptive authority pursuant to LAC 46:XLV.4513.

(c) The applicant psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner's collaborating physician shall have staff membership, institutional privileges, or both, at the treatment facility.

(d) The applicant psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner shall prescribe medications or the use of seclusion or restraint on patients in the treatment facility only in accordance with the collaborative practice agreement and in accordance with the treatment facility's staff membership or privilege granting process and restrictions, if any.

B. Nothing in this Section shall be construed to require the governing body of a treatment facility to grant staff membership, specifically delineated institutional privileges, or both, to any applicant health care provider, provided that each such applicant is considered on an individual basis regarding his qualifications.

C. Nothing in this Section shall be construed to prohibit the governing body of a treatment facility from granting or denying staff membership, specifically delineated institutional privileges, or both, on the basis of individual character, competence, experience and judgment of the applicant health care provider seeking staff membership, or specifically delineated institutional privileges, or both, from requiring the character recommendation of not more than three members of the staff for which membership is sought as a prerequisite to consideration for staff membership or specifically delineated clinical privileges.

D. "Governing body" for purposes of this Section, means the group or the individual ultimately responsible for a treatment facility's general policies with respect to staff membership and professional clinical privileges and shall include but not be limited to a board of trustees, a board of directors, a board of governors, a board of managers, a medical board, a medical director or any other official of the treatment facility with comparable responsibilities.

Acts 2006, No. 664, §1; Acts 2009, No. 251, §7, eff. Jan. 1, 2010; Acts 2017, No. 369, §2.