Health Law Monitor

Colorado Physician Assistants No Longer Require Physician Supervision

August 8, 2023

By: Nicole B. Grimmesey

Effective August 7, 2023, physician assistants in Colorado will no longer be required to practice under the supervision of a physician. SB 083 allows most physician assistants to now practice collaboratively with a physician rather than under a supervisory agreement.

The collaborative agreement must include:

The physician assistant's name, license number, and primary location of practice;
The signature of the physician assistant and the physician/physician group with whom the physician assistant has entered into the collaborative agreement;
A description of the physician assistant's process for collaboration;
A description of the performance evaluation process, which may be completed by the physician assistant's employer in accordance with a performance evaluation and review process established by the employer; and
Any additional requirements specific to the physician assistant's practice required by the physician/physician group entering into the collaborative agreement, including additional levels of oversight, limitations on autonomous judgment, and the designation of a primary contact for collaboration.

However, for a physician assistant with fewer than 5,000 practice hours, or a physician assistant changing practice areas with fewer than 3,000 practice hours in the new practice area, the collaborative agreement is a supervisory agreement that must also include:

Collaboration during the first 160 practice hours to be completed in person or through technology, as permitted by the physician/physician group with whom the physician assistant is collaborating;
Elements defining the expected nature of collaboration; and
A performance evaluation and discussion of the performance evaluation with the physician assistant.

For a physician assistant entering into a collaborative agreement with a physician/physician group in the emergency department of a hospital with a level I or level II trauma center, the collaborative agreement remains a supervisory agreement and continues indefinitely.

According to the Colorado Academy of Physician Assistants, SB 083 will achieve the following goals:

Expand how physician assistants practice medicine in physician practices and other health care facilities;
Maintain patient safety and quality of care;
Increase access to care;
Reduce health care costs; and
Eliminate administrative burdens on physicians and employers.

The bill will give the physician assistant-physician team flexibility to determine the terms of collaboration for new physician assistants and physician assistants changing practice areas. Importantly, SB 083 still requires physician assistants to consult with or refer to other members of the health care team as appropriate and only authorizes physician assistants to own up to 49% of a medical practice.

Resources:

https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb23-083

https://www.coloradopas.org/resources/Documents/SB23-083%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf

((Gilbert Dickinson is the responsible attorney for this blog))

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