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Scope of practice — who can practice what kind of medicine, in what settings and under what type of physician supervision, if any — is an issue that has preoccupied state legislatures and the courts for years. The disputes involve physicians, nurse practitioners, chiropractors, pharmacists, dental hygienists, respiratory therapists, podiatrists, pharmacists, midwives — and just about everyone else in medicine. It has taken on renewed importance in the past few years given the coverage expansion of the Affordable Care Act, the shortage of primary care physicians and mental health practitioners in sections of the country, the needs of an aging population, and the pressures to find ways of providing care less expensively without harming quality. (6/20)

Federally qualified health centers that serve mostly poor and low-income families in distressed or rural communities have always had a tough time recruiting physicians. And now, it's getting even harder. (Johnson, 6/18)