Relating to the practice and licensure of physician assistants, and including effective date provisions

This bill relates to the practice and licensure of physician assistants.4 which provides that the physician assistant may provide any legal medical service for which the physician assistant has been prepared by education, training, or experience and is competent to perform. Additionally, the bill provides that a physician may delegate the function of prescribing drugs, controlled substances, and medical devices for which the supervising physician has sufficient training or experience after the supervising physician determines the physician assistant’s proficiency and competence. Rules relating to the authority of physician assistants to prescribe drugs, controlled substances, and medical devices shall be adopted by the board of physician assistants, after consultation with the board of medicine and the board of pharmacy. The bill includes physician assistants in the listing of health care providers in provisions relating to the scope of recovery in an action for damages for personal injury, limitations on noneconomic damage awards against health care providers, and contingent fees for attorneys in any action for personal injury or wrongful death against a health care provider. The bill includes definitions for the purposes of Code chapter 148C (physician assistants).” as a person who meets the qualifications under Code chapter 148C and is licensed to practice medicine by the board of physician assistants. The bill amends the reference to a physician assistant examination that may be completed in lieu of graduation from an approved program, and provides that a licensed physician assistant shall perform only those services for which the licensed physician assistant is qualified by training or education and which are not prohibited by the board. The bill provides with regard to the services that may be performed by a physician assistant, that a physician assistant may provide any legal medical service for which the physician assistant has been prepared by the physician assistant’s education, training, or experience and is competent to perform. The degree of collaboration between a physician assistant and the appropriate member of a health care team shall be determined at the practice level, and may involve decisions made by the medical group, hospital service, supervising physician, or employer of the physician assistant, or the credentialing and privileging system of a licensed health care facility. A physician shall be accessible at all times for consultation with a physician assistant unless the physician assistant is providing emergency medical services. The supervising physician shall have ultimate responsibility for determining the medical care provided by the supervising physician-physician assistant team. The bill also includes physician assistants as approved providers of health care services, including primary care for purposes of managed care or prepaid services contracts under the Medicaid program and provides that the provision shall not be construed to expand the scope of practice of a physician assistant. The bill also requires the board of medicine and the board of physician assistants to each, at the next meeting of the respective boards held one calendar week or more after the enactment of the bill, to approve a notice of intended action to adopt rules to implement the bill. The bill specifies the rules that the two boards are to address or rescind. The bill provides that the board of medicine and the board of physician assistants, upon the adoption of rules pursuant to Code chapter 17A as required by the bill, shall not thereafter approve a notice of intended action for the amendment or rescission of such rules for a period of two years from the effective date of the bill.76 (rules) or any other statute. The bill takes effect upon enactment.