Sunday, September 7, 2008
The General Assembly is not in session.
Tracking Virginia’s General Assembly
since 2007.
SB980: Physician assistants; extends therpeutic activities they may perform under supervision.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 54.1-2952 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 54.1-2952. Supervision of assistants by licensed physician, or podiatrist; services that may be performed by assistants; responsibility of licensee; employment of assistants.
A. A physician or a podiatrist licensed under this chapter may apply to the Board to supervise assistants and delegate certain acts which constitute the practice of medicine to the extent and in the manner authorized by the Board. The physician shall provide continuous supervision as required by this section; however, the requirement for physician supervision of assistants shall not be construed as requiring the physical presence of the supervising physician during all times and places of service delivery by assistants. Each team of supervising physician and physician assistant shall identify the relevant physician assistant's scope of practice, including, but not limited to, the delegation of medical tasks as appropriate to the physician assistant's level of competence, the physician assistant's relationship with and access to the supervising physician, and an evaluation process for the physician assistant's performance.
No licensee shall be allowed to supervise more than two assistants at any one time.
Any professional corporation or partnership of any licensee, any hospital and any commercial enterprise having medical facilities for its employees which are supervised by one or more physicians or podiatrists may employ one or more assistants in accordance with the provisions of this section.
Activities shall be delegated in a manner consistent with
sound medical practice and the protection of the health and safety of the
patient. Such services shall be limited to those which are educational,
diagnostic, therapeutic or preventive in nature, but shall not
include the establishment of a final diagnosis or including
treatment plan for the patient or,
but shall not include the prescribing or dispensing of drugs,
except as provided in § 54.1-2952.1. In addition, a licensee is authorized to
delegate and supervise initial and ongoing evaluation and treatment of any
patient in a hospital, including its emergency department, when performed under
the direction, supervision and control of the supervising licensee. When
practicing in a hospital, the assistant shall report any acute or significant
finding or change in a patient's clinical status to the supervising physician
as soon as circumstances require, and shall record such finding in appropriate
institutional records. The assistant shall transfer to a supervising physician
the direction of care of a patient in an emergency department who has a life-threatening
injury or illness. The supervising physician shall review, prior to the
patient's discharge, the services rendered to each patient by a physician
assistant in a hospital's emergency department. An assistant who is employed to
practice in an emergency department shall be under the supervision of a
physician present within the facility.
Further, unless otherwise prohibited by federal law or by hospital bylaws, rules, or policies, nothing in this section shall prohibit any physician assistant who is not employed by the emergency physician or his professional entity from practicing in a hospital emergency department, within the scope of his practice, while under continuous physician supervision as required by this section, whether or not the supervising physician is physically present in the facility. The supervising physician who authorizes such practice by his assistant shall (i) retain exclusive supervisory control of and responsibility for the assistant and (ii) be available at all times for consultation with both the assistant and the emergency department physician. Prior to the patient's discharge from the emergency department, the assistant shall communicate the proposed disposition plan for any patient under his care to both his supervising physician and the emergency department physician. No person shall have control of or supervisory responsibility for any physician assistant who is not employed by the person or the person's business entity.
B. No assistant shall perform any delegated acts except at the direction of the licensee and under his supervision and control. No physician assistant practicing in a hospital shall render care to a patient unless the physician responsible for that patient has signed the protocol, pursuant to regulations of the Board, to act as supervising physician for that assistant. Every licensee, professional corporation or partnership of licensees, hospital or commercial enterprise that employs an assistant shall be fully responsible for the acts of the assistant in the care and treatment of human beings.
Additional Data
Explanation
This is the actual text of the bill — the legislation itself. Generally this is amending existing law, proposing the addition or removal of words from laws that are already on the books.
Words that are highlighted in yellow are
proposed additions, and words that are crossed out in
red are proposed removals.
The numbers with the § symbol before them are references to existing laws, and if you click on them they’ll take you to that part of the law on the state's website.