For nurse practitioners · Maryland

The lightest transition on the map.

Maryland NPs practice and prescribe without any collaborative agreement, but a first-time applicant never certified by any board of nursing must identify a mentor on the certification application who will consult and collaborate with the new NP — as needed, not supervise — for 18 months.

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Every state with a pathway

The moment

The transition, and the moment it ends

Maryland is the lightest-touch transition on this list — light enough that AANP counts it full practice. There has been no collaborative agreement since October 1, 2015. What remains is a named mentor for a first-time NP: 18 months of consult-and-collaborate, as needed — not supervision, no sign-offs. The clock starts when the Board receives the certification application, and full unencumbered status arrives automatically when it runs out.

The transition

18-month mentorship (consult-and-collaborate) for never-before-certified NPs; no collaborative agreement since 2015

The moment it ends

Initial certification — the 18-month mentorship clock starts on the date the Board receives the certification application, and full unencumbered status arrives automatically when it runs out; no later filing or re-adjudication

The timeline

Oct. 1, 2015 (Full Practice Authority Act, SB 723/HB 999, Chs. 385/386 of 2015; mentor rule now codified at §8-302.1)

The statute

Md. Code, Health Occ. §8-302.1

The receipt

Other platforms would show a testimonial here. Gale has no Maryland NPs to quote, and we do not invent people — so here is the dated, sourced fact instead.

Since Oct. 1, 2015, a brand-new Maryland NP's only tether is a named mentor for 18 months of as-needed consultation — and the mentor need not be a physician; an experienced nurse practitioner qualifies.

Md. Code, Health Occ. §8-302.1

Scope and carve-outs

The grant and the strings, at equal weight

Full scope from certification: independent diagnosis, treatment, and prescribing, including Schedule II–V controlled substances, with no physician sign-off. The only transition-period tether is the named mentor relationship; NPs previously certified by Maryland or any other board of nursing are exempt entirely.

What Gale runs

The inventory, split honestly. Nothing dark is dressed as live.

In the product today

  • Scheduling and the calendar.
  • Notes, with a scribe that drafts during the visit — you stay the final editor of every note.
  • Telehealth where the chart lives.
  • The patient record — see a sample chart, no signup.
  • Superbills for the patient who wants to claim out-of-network benefits.
  • The Fee Schedule — the one Gale document that states the fee.
  • Your practice page, in the public directory compiled from the NPPES registry.

Opening with the founding cohort

  • Concierge memberships — a monthly plan your practice sells on its own terms. Not sellable yet: enrollment fails closed behind a legal switch until counsel clears it. No countdown — when it clears, it clears.
  • The loop tracker — every referral, lab, and question a visible loop with an owner, a state, and a promised window. Closing one requires an outcome note; nothing silently expires.
  • The guided founding sequence — practice setup walked step by step with the first cohort: entity, posted prices, the practice page, the first visit.
The economics

During the transition, someone signs — and the signature is a cost line, in money or in kind. Independence retires it. What Gale adds is built to stay just as legible.

Gale’s side of the ledger is deliberately short. The software is free, and Gale earns one flat all-in fee on a transaction — charged only when your practice is actually paid, never as a subscription, never with per-feature line items, never a spread on your rate. The number itself lives in exactly one document, on purpose, so it can never quietly say two different things in two places: the Fee Schedule states it.
The playbook

The deepest state cluster we have built is California’s — eight guides on the 103/104 ladder, cited to the statute and the board’s own filings. They are California’s rules, not Maryland’s; the same treatment is coming state by state. Until then, they show the depth of homework to expect from us.

The California playbook →
Questions with citable answers
No. The 18-month mentor requirement applies only to applicants never certified by any board of nursing. An NP previously certified by Maryland or any other state is exempt entirely.
No. An experienced nurse practitioner qualifies as the mentor — and the relationship is consult-and-collaborate as needed, with full independent diagnosis, treatment, and prescribing (Schedule II–V included) from certification.
Where to start

Your page may already exist

Gale publishes a public directory compiled from the NPPES registry. Find your listing, claim it, and see how you rank for your own name — that page is the front door your independent practice will be found through.

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