NP · Montana
Collaborative Drug Therapy Management for Nurse Practitioners in Montana
No. Nurse Practitioners here prescribe and adjust drug therapy on their own authority. Montana does not require one.
Montana's Nurse Practice Act does not condition NP practice on a supervising-physician or collaborative-practice agreement — NPs are widely classified (AANP and others) as full-practice-authority. Prescriptive authority is granted directly by the Board of Nursing (§ 37-8-202, MCA) rather than delegated by a collaborating physician. See state-level notes on HB 810 (2023).
What the physician relationship must look like
The rules the physician relationship has to follow. Each fact comes from the statute or board rule listed under sources.
Proximity
No proximity requirement
No physician proximity/availability requirement is codified for NP practice in Montana.
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
Requires individual DEA registration.
Written agreement
Not required
Unconditional under current statute as researched — no collaborative or supervisory agreement is required for NP practice in Montana.
Practice ownership (corporate practice of medicine)
Licensee-only ownership required — Professional Corporation (Title 35, ch. 4, MCA) or comparable professional entity — shares/membership limited to persons licensed in the service rendered; an NP may independently own a nursing-services entity under this framework.
Sources for the supervision rules (5)
- Mont. Code Ann. § 37-8-202 — Board of Nursing Powers and Duties (prescriptive authority)
- Mont. Code Ann. § 37-8-409 — Advanced Practice Registered Nursing
- Admin. R. Mont. 24.159.1463 — Application for Prescriptive Authoritysecondary
- Admin. R. Mont. 24.159.1464 — Prescribing Practices
- Montana House Bill 810 (2023, not confirmed enacted) — would have required 2-year APRN collaboration
What a collaborating physician costs here
Typical monthly cost in Montana
$500 – $600
Estimate for one Nurse Practitioner. Standard-tier state.
About Montana's rules
House Bill 810 (2023) would have imposed a 2-year physician/NP-collaboration requirement on APRNs; it was referred to committee and this research could not confirm it became law — current APRN statute text found shows no such requirement, so NP/CRNA/CNM/CNS are coded as independent, but verify this hasn't changed before relying on it. Montana repealed its corporate-practice-of-medicine statute in 1995; CPOM entries below reflect residual board rule, not a clear statutory line.
Other clinicians in Montana: see the state overview.