SECTION 1. Section 1 of chapter 94C of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the definition for Marihuana the following definition:-

Medication Order, an order entered on a patient's medical record maintained at a hospital, other health facility, or ambulatory health care setting registered under this chapter and that is dispensed only for immediate administration at the facility to the ultimate user by an individual who under chapter 94C administers such medication.

SECTION 2. The definition of Practitioner, in said section 1 of said chapter 94C, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following subsection:-

(d) A nurse practitioner authorized by section 80E of chapter 112 and registered pursuant to subsection (f) of section 7 to distribute, dispense, conduct research with respect to, or use in teaching or chemical analysis, a controlled substance in the course of professional practice or research in the commonwealth.

SECTION 3. Section 7 of said chapter 94C, as so appearing, is hereby amended in subsection (f) by adding in lines 121, 124 and 125 after the word podiatrist, the following words: - nurse practitioner

SECTION 4. Said section 7 of said chapter 94C, as so appearing, is hereby further amended in subsection (g) by striking out in line 137 the words: nurse practitioners and for

SECTION 5. Said subsection (g) of section 7 of said chapter 94C, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out in line 147 the words: nurse practitioners and

SECTION 6. Section 9 of said chapter 94C, as so appearing, is hereby amended in subsection (a) by inserting in line 1 after the word podiatrist, the following words:- nurse practitioner,

SECTION 7. Said subsection (a) of section 9 of said chapter 94C, as so appearing, is hereby further amended in line 3 by striking out the words “nurse practitioner and”

SECTION 8. Said section 9 of said chapter 94C, as so appearing, is hereby further amended in subsection (b) by inserting in line 29 after the words “nurse-midwifery,” the following words:- advanced practice nursing

SECTION 9. Section 18 of said chapter 94C, as so appearing, is hereby amended in lines 10, 27, 54 and 55 by adding after the words “to practice medicine’ the following words:- or advanced practice nursing

SECTION 10. Said section 18 of chapter 94C, as so appearing, is hereby further amended in line 25, 34 and 35 by adding after the words “physician” the following words:- or nurse practitioner

SECTION 11. Said section 18 of chapter 94C, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in lines 38 and 39, the words “a physician who is licensed to practice medicine” and by inserting in place thereof the following words:- a practitioner who is licensed to practice medicine or advanced practice nursing

SECTION 12. Said section 80B of chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby further amended in the seventh paragraph by adding the following sentence:- Notwithstanding provisions in this section to the contrary, the board shall promulgate regulations independent of the board of registration in medicine which govern the provision of nurse practitioner services and related care, including, but not limited to, the ordering and interpreting of tests, the ordering and evaluation of treatment and therapeutics and any registration as a practitioner, under chapter 94C

SECTION 13. Section 80E of chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out in lines 1, 7 and 8 the following words:- nurse practitioner or

SECTION 14. Said section 80E of chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by adding the following sentence:- Pursuant to section 80B, a nurse practitioner may be registered to distribute, dispense, conduct research with respect to, or use in teaching or chemical analysis, a controlled substance in the course of professional practice or research in the commonwealth in accordance with regulations promulgated by the board of registration in nursing after consultation with the commissioner of public health.

SECTION 15. Section 80I of chapter 112 of the General Laws inserted by section 113 of chapter 224 of the acts of 2012 is hereby amended by striking out the second and third sentences.

SECTION 16. Section 3 of chapter 176R of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby  amended by striking out said section in its entirety and inserting in place thereof the following:— Section 3. A participating provider nurse practitioner practicing within the scope of his license shall be considered qualified within the carrier’s definition of primary care provider to an insured.

SECTION 17. The department of public health and the board of registration in nursing shall promulgate regulations under sections 80B, 80E and 80I of chapter 112 and sections 1, 7,9 and 18 of chapter 94C of the General Laws by December 31, 2018.