Nurse practitioners (NPs) in Kentucky can prescribe routine medications without a doctor's involvement starting this week--if they completed a four-year collaboration with a doctor, Kaiser Health News reported. The law also sets up a six-member committee to create a list of doctors willing to oversee NPs. If the NP can't find a doctor to collaborate with, the committee must furnish a physician for them. After four years, the NPs don't need an agreement to prescribe most medicine, KHN reported. The move could be crucial in the wake of more Americans gaining coverage under the Affordable Care Act, the primary care physician shortage and the high number of rural areas on Kentucky. Read the full article from FierceHealthcare