On August 6, 2015, the Alabama Medicaid Agency increased physician extenders from three to four full-time equivalents (FTEs) to align with the jointly-approved collaboration rule updates issued by the Alabama Board of Nursing and the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners. The jointly-approved rules are available in the Alabama Board of Nursing Administrative Code Chapter 610-X-5 and the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners Administrative Code Chapter 540-X-8.

As a result of this change, full-time Patient 1st Primary Medical Providers (PMP) may now be allowed a maximum panel size of 2,800 patients.  The PMP caseloads are determined by the total number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) hours the physicians and the physician extenders work. These changes will be reflected in the October 2015 Provider Manual update.

For more information about these changes, contact Latonda Cunningham via email at     latonda.cunningham@medicaid.alabama.gov.