The Medical Board of California is proposing amendments to its regulations addressing the supervision of physician assistants (PAs) in an effort to clarify and consolidate the requirements into “one convenient location.”
If adopted, the regulations would more closely match the Business and Professions Code (“the Code”), which lists additional authorized mechanisms available to supervising physicians.
The updates would not substantially alter supervision mechanisms currently authorized by the Board, but would alleviate confusion by more clearly enumerating these mechanisms in Title 16 of the California Code of Regulations (CCR) Section 1399.545, according to the Board.
The amended Section 1399.545, for example, would permit “[a]ny mechanism authorized by Section 3502 of the Code”—which itself details methods by which a supervising physician may review the medical records of patients treated by the PA.
The proposed regulatory amendment addresses only the written supervision mechanisms and does not address other supervision and delegation requirements, including physician availability, the physician’s assurance of the PA’s competency to perform certain tasks and procedures, or PA scope of practice.
The complete proposed redlines to 16 CCR section 1399.545 can be found here.
The Board has scheduled a hearing on the proposed updates on August 14, 2019 at the Medical Board of California, 2005 Evergreen Street, Sacramento, CA 95815.
Written comments, including those sent by mail, fax, or e-mail to the contact person designated in the Board’s notice, must be received by no later than August 12, 2019, or must be received at the hearing.
For questions or more information regarding this client alert, please contact:
Kristina Sherry
310.203.2800
[email protected]