Nurse Practitioner Credentialing in Georgia

Georgia nurse practitioners operate under a physician supervision requirement, making Georgia one of the more restrictive APRN practice states in the Southeast. Georgia NPs must maintain a Nurse Practitioner Protocol Agreement with a supervising physician, and this protocol must be filed with the Georgia Board of Nursing and submitted to payers during credentialing applications. Anthem BCBS GA, Amerigroup, and Peach State Health Management all require current Protocol Agreement documentation for NP credentialing. Georgia Medicaid NP enrollment requires the protocol physician to also be enrolled in Georgia Medicaid in most cases. Georgia's rural primary care shortage creates strong demand for NPs, particularly in the Black Belt counties of South and Southwest Georgia where physician supervision requirements can be difficult to satisfy due to the scarcity of supervising physicians in these areas. Georgia has explored telemedicine-based supervisory models for NPs in rural shortage areas, which has some impact on how protocol agreements are structured and reviewed by payers. Emory Healthcare, Grady Health System, and WellStar Health System primarily credential NPs through their employed group models.