The Practice Brief

Help your practice thrive—one week at a time.

Welcome to The Practice Brief, your weekly roundup of the news, trends, and ideas shaping the future of dermatology. Each edition highlights the biggest developments in practice management, reimbursement, policy, AI, business, and professional growth, while connecting them to existing Dermatology Times and NP/PA Connect coverage. The goal isn't just to keep you informed—it's to help you discover what's next, identify opportunities, and keep your practice performing at its best.

New York Extends NP Independent Practice Through 2030

New York has extended independent practice authority for qualified nurse practitioners through July 1, 2030, preserving the framework that has been in place since 2022.¹ Gov Kathy Hochul approved the extension on May 28, 2026, moving the expiration date from July 1, 2026, to July 1, 2030. Under the framework, NPs with more than 3600 hours of practice can continue to see patients without a written collaborative agreement or protocol tied to a physician.

Without the extension, qualifying NPs would have reverted this summer to an earlier framework requiring a collaborative relationship, even without a detailed written agreement. Separate bills that would make independent practice authority permanent in New York remain in committee, so the current framework, and its 2030 expiration date, stays the reference point for now.

▶ Why it matters: If you practice in New York, this removes an immediate compliance deadline from your radar, but the underlying authority is still tied to a hard expiration date rather than permanence. Track the bills that would make it permanent if you want to see this settled for good.

Building a Resilient Practice, One Vendor Contract at a Time

Roman Bronfenbrener, MD, a dermatologist in private practice and a member of the academic faculty at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, spoke with Dermatology Times about what keeps independent practices resilient after Clarity's 2026 State of Dermatology Report found that nearly half of independent dermatologists surveyed had considered selling.² Bronfenbrener said he was not surprised by that number, since the traditional exit strategies past generations relied on, bringing on a partner or selling to another dermatologist who wanted to keep the practice running, have become harder to execute.

He pointed to peer networks as an underused resource for the kind of operational decisions that rarely make it into formal practice management training. Bronfenbrener described getting cleaning service quotes ranging from about $700 to $5000 a month early in his practice, with some higher-priced vendors marketing themselves as health care specific.

After comparing notes with colleagues about their own vendors, he chose the lower-cost provider, a decision that has held up.

▶ Why it matters: Before you sign off on any vendor quoted as healthcare specific, run it past a peer network first. The premium is not always buying you anything.

Why a Good Offer Still Needs a Second Opinion

A new Dermatology Times practice management column argues that career decisions in dermatology are too often driven by emotion rather than data, particularly when it comes to evaluating job offers and compensation packages.³ The column examines common pitfalls clinicians run into when they lean on informal, crowdsourced advice, whether from social media or word of mouth, instead of grounding contract review in their own numbers and priorities.

The core argument is not that outside input is worthless, but that it is a poor substitute for a structured review of compensation structure, restrictive covenants, and productivity expectations before a contract is signed. Broad rules of thumb picked up online rarely fit an individual clinician's actual situation.

▶ Why it matters: Before you act on advice from a forum or a group chat about a specific offer, run the contract past someone who is looking at your actual numbers, not general folklore about what a good offer looks like.

Basic Skin Care Alone Moves the Needle in Several Conditions

A new narrative review found that nonmedicated skin care regimens, cleansing, moisturizing, and photoprotection, frequently produced meaningful improvement across acne, actinic keratoses, melasma, postinflammatory hyperpigmentation, and rosacea, based on an analysis of vehicle-arm data from placebo-controlled randomized trials.⁴ In 2 international phase 3 PERFECT trials enrolling a combined 2817 participants with facial and truncal acne, participants in the vehicle-only arm using cleanser and a nonmedicated cream still saw measurable improvement, even though active treatment performed better.

The takeaway for daily practice is less about any single product and more about what belongs in a counseling conversation. A basic, consistent regimen is not a placebo you have to apologize for. It is doing real, measurable work alongside whatever you prescribe.

▶ Why it matters: When you counsel a patient on a basic skin care routine alongside their prescription, you are recommending something with its own evidence base, not just filling time. Frame it that way.

References

1. S. Heaning, New York extends nurse practitioner independent practice authority through 2030. Dermatology Times. July 17, 2026. https://www.dermatologytimes.com/view/new-york-extends-nurse-practitioner-independent-practice-authority-through-2030
2. R. Bronfenbrener, MD, S. Heaning, Building a more resilient independent dermatology practice. Dermatology Times. https://www.dermatologytimes.com/view/building-a-more-resilient-independent-dermatology-practice
3. J. Gatti, DMSc, MPAS, MBA, PA-C. The offer was good, the internet said otherwise: when bad advice costs more than a bad contract. Dermatology Times. June 22, 2026. https://www.dermatologytimes.com/view/the-offer-was-good-the-internet-said-otherwise-when-bad-advice-costs-more-than-a-bad-contract
4. M. Bosslett. New review confirms how nonmedicated skin care vehicles drive clinical improvement. Dermatology Times. https://www.dermatologytimes.com/view/new-review-confirms-how-nonmedicated-skin-care-vehicles-drive-clinical-improvement