PMHNP · Indiana
Collaborative Practice Agreement for Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners in Indiana
Yes, a written physician agreement is required. Indiana does not name a specific instrument.
EXPLICIT FINDING: no PMHNP-specific statute or rule was located anywhere in Indiana law. IC 25-23-1-1(b) recognizes exactly four APRN roles — NP, CNM, CNS, CRNA — and 848 IAC 4-1-3 mirrors that list without any population-focus registration scheme of the kind Colorado's 3 CCR 716-1.14 uses. PMHNP is therefore purely a national-certification population focus here, governed identically to a general NP; see the `np` entry for the shared framework.
What the collaboration 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
Identical standard to `np` — no codified proximity or reachability rule; availability is defined by the practice agreement under IC 25-23-1-19.4(c).
Supervision ratio
Not codified — no cap on file
Chart review
5% of charts · As needed (documentation of prescribing practices submitted to the collaborating practitioner within 7 days)
Same 848 IAC 5-1-1(a)(7) requirement as `np` — Indiana gives PMHNPs neither a lighter nor a heavier sampling percentage.
Meeting cadence
Every 6 months, in person or via telehealth
Same two-year prescriptive-authority renewal/agreement-refresh cycle as `np` (IC 25-23-1-19.5(c); 848 IAC 5-1-3). No meeting cadence is codified.
Prescriptive authority
Covered by the practice agreement · controlled substances permitted
Same statutory pathway as `np` — no PMHNP-specific schedule restriction found. PMHNP prescribing in practice skews toward Schedule II stimulants and Schedule IV benzodiazepines more heavily than general primary-care NP practice — not a different legal limit, but a different real-world risk/complexity profile (reflected in `calculatorWeights` below, not in this rule itself). The unconfirmed Schedule-II-for-weight-reduction prohibition flagged in the `np` entry would, if real, bear on PMHNP stimulant prescribing for obesity indications specifically — verify before relying on it.
Written agreement
Required
Unconditional — identical to `np`, since Indiana draws no PMHNP/NP distinction at all. Unconditional. IC 25-23-1-19.4(c) requires an APRN to 'operate in collaboration with a licensed practitioner as evidenced by a practice agreement,' or alternatively under privileges granted by a hospital governing board — the agreement requirement attaches to APRN practice generally, not only to prescribing. Note the asymmetry in enforcement: the biennial random audit at IC 25-23-1-19.8(a) reaches only APRNs who hold prescriptive authority under IC 25-23-1-19.5, and only prescribers must file their agreement with the board (848 IAC 5-1-1(a)(7)). A non-prescribing APRN still needs an agreement under § 19.4(c) but has no filing or audit obligation attached to it.
Practice ownership (corporate practice of medicine)
Licensee-only ownership required — Same as the general `np` entry — PMHNP is an NP population focus, not a separately licensed Indiana role, so the same IC 25-22.5-1-2(a)(22) analysis applies identically.
This analysis governs entity ownership only. It does not extend to any service outside the APRN's own scope — notably delegated medical-aesthetic procedures, which stay under the delegating physician's control via IC 25-22.5-1-2(a)(20) regardless of who owns the entity (see the `esthetician` entry).
Legal sources for these rules (3)
- IC 25-23-1-1(b) — APRN definition enumerating only NP, CNM, CNS, and CRNA (no PMHNP role or population-focus scheme) (Justia archived 2014 Indiana Code chapter PDF)secondary
- 848 IAC 4-1-3 — Board of Nursing 'Advanced practice nurse' definition, listing NP, certified nurse-midwife, and CNS only (Cornell LII Indiana Administrative Code mirror)secondary
- IC 25-23-1-19.4, 25-23-1-19.5 and 848 IAC 5-1-1 — same APRN framework as `np`secondary
What a collaborating physician costs here
Typical monthly cost in Indiana
$500 – $700
Estimate for one Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. This state's rules add a restrictive-tier premium.
About Indiana's rules
Indiana requires a career-long collaborative practice agreement for every APRN role except CRNAs (IC 25-23-1-19.4(c)); APRN prescribers additionally face a codified 5%-of-charts random-sampling review (848 IAC 5-1-1). CRNAs instead face a stricter rule — physician direction and immediate presence (IC 25-23-1-30). Widely repeated reports that Indiana enacted full practice authority in 2026 are unsupported: HB 1116, HB 1129 and SB 60 all failed. Indiana's corporate-practice doctrine is comparatively permissive.
Other clinicians in Indiana: see the state overview.