Signing for a Nurse Practitioner in Ohio: what the physician takes on

No proximity requirement

No physical-proximity/mileage requirement is codified — the collaborating physician/podiatrist must be 'continuously available to communicate ... either in person or digitally,' with a required backup/emergency-coverage plan built into the SCA (OAC 4723-8-04).

Up to 5 at a time (combined across provider types)

'A collaborating physician may not collaborate with more than five APRNs at the same time in the prescribing component of their practices' (Ohio Rev. Code §4723.431) — raised from 3 to 5 by H.B. 216 (2017). Confirmed directly from the Ohio Board of Nursing's official APRN practice guide (2025). Coded as a shared cap across a physician's combined CNM+CNS+CNP roster based on the statute's 'prescribing component of their practices' phrasing — this shared-vs-per-type reading is this file's own interpretation, not independently confirmed. A stale secondary mirror still showing the old '3' figure was found and disregarded.

Annually, in person or via telehealth

OAC 4723-8-05 requires 'periodic random chart review... at least annually,' plus 'periodic review, at least semi-annually, of prescriptions written and prescribing patterns,' with a required conference between the collaborating physician (or a designated QA-committee member) and the APRN following each review. NO fixed percentage of charts is specified — a secondary source's claimed '10% monthly / 20% quarterly' figure could not be corroborated against the rule text (confirmed absent via two independent direct fetches) and is likely inaccurate; do not use it. Modality of the post-review conference is unspecified.

Covered by the practice agreement · controlled substances permitted

Ohio Rev. Code §4723.481: prescriptive authority cannot exceed the collaborating physician's own authority. Subject to an 'exclusionary formulary' (OAC 4723-9-10 — may prescribe anything NOT on an excluded list, rather than only from a positive list, since H.B. 216 (2017)). Schedule II: restricted to terminal-condition patients where a physician already initially prescribed the same drug, ≤72-hour supply, UNLESS practicing from specified settings (hospitals, nursing homes, hospice, FQHCs, physician-owned practices, community mental health providers, and outpatient behavioral-health practices with employed-physician collaboration) — expressly excludes convenience-care clinics (§4723.481(C)(2); confirmed no drug-class-based carve-out exists — restrictions apply uniformly). OARRS registration and review required before prescribing (OAC 4723-9-12). All APRNs are barred from prescribing any drug/device to perform or induce an abortion (§4723.151(C)).

Non-licensee ownership permitted — Same no-CPOM-doctrine framework as `pa`. NP-specific: Ohio Rev. Code §4723.16 lets a licensed RN/APRN render nursing services through a corporation (§1701.03(B)), LLC (Ch. 1706), partnership, or professional association (Ch. 1785). §1701.03(B)'s same-profession rule requires a straight nursing PC's shareholders to themselves be licensed to render nursing services — NPs may also join multidisciplinary entities with physicians under §4731.226. No case law or regulatory guidance was found specifically confirming this has been tested/litigated for APRN ownership — an inference from statutory structure, not a directly-stated rule.