Amd 6542, 902 & 6810, Ed L; amd 3701, 3702, 3703 & 3302, Pub Health L
Modifies physician assistant standards in the state of New York by allowing physician assistants to practice without supervision if they have practiced for more than eight thousand hours or completed a program approved by the department of education and department of health, as well as, expanding where physician assistants can practice and their ability to treat patients; requires the department of education and department of health to develop rules and regulations for such new standards.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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9038
IN SENATE
April 11, 2024
___________
Introduced by Sen. MAY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law and the public health law, in relation
to amending physician assistant practice standards
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 6542 of the education law, as amended by chapter 48
2 of the laws of 2012, subdivisions 3 and 5 as amended by section 1 of
3 part T of chapter 57 of the laws of 2013, is amended to read as follows:
4 § 6542. Performance of medical services. 1. Notwithstanding any other
5 provision of law, a physician assistant may perform medical services,
6 but only when under the supervision of a physician and only when such
7 acts and duties as are assigned to him or her are within the scope of
8 practice of such supervising physician unless otherwise permitted by
9 this section.
10 2. [Supervision shall be continuous but shall not be construed as
11 necessarily requiring the physical presence of the supervising physician
12 at the time and place where such services are performed] A physician
13 assistant may practice without the supervision of a physician under the
14 following circumstances:
15 (a) where the physician assistant, licensed under section sixty-five
16 hundred forty-one of this article has practiced for more than eight
17 thousand hours; and
18 (i) is practicing in primary care. For the purposes of this paragraph,
19 "primary care" shall mean non-surgical care in the fields of general
20 pediatrics, general adult medicine, general geriatric medicine, general
21 internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, family medicine, or such
22 other related areas as determined by the commissioner of health; or
23 (ii) is employed by a health system or hospital established under
24 article twenty-eight of the public health law, and the health system or
25 hospital determines the physician assistant meets the qualifications of
26 the medical staff bylaws and the health system or hospital gives the
27 physician assistant privileges; and
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13627-01-3
S. 9038 2
1 (b) where a physician assistant licensed under section sixty-five
2 hundred forty-one of this article has completed a program approved by
3 the department of health, in consultation with the department, when such
4 services are performed within the scope of such program.
5 3. [No physician shall employ or supervise more than four physician
6 assistants in his or her private practice] Where supervision is required
7 by this section, it shall be continuous but shall not be construed as
8 necessarily requiring the physical presence of the supervising physician
9 at the time and place where such services are performed.
10 4. Nothing in this article shall prohibit a hospital from employing
11 physician assistants provided they [work under the supervision of a
12 physician designated by the hospital and not beyond the scope of prac-
13 tice of such physician. The numerical limitation of subdivision three of
14 this section shall not apply to services performed in a hospital] meet
15 the qualifications of the medical staff bylaws and are given privileges
16 and otherwise meet the requirements of this section.
17 5. [Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, nothing shall
18 prohibit a physician employed by or rendering services to the department
19 of corrections and community supervision under contract from supervising
20 no more than six physician assistants in his or her practice for the
21 department of corrections and community supervision] A physician assist-
22 ant shall be authorized to prescribe, dispense, order, or procure items
23 to commence or complete a course of therapy.
24 6. [Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a trainee in an
25 approved program may perform medical services when such services are
26 performed within the scope of such program] (a) A physician assistant
27 may prescribe and order a patient specific order or non-patient specific
28 regimen to a licensed pharmacist or registered professional nurse,
29 pursuant to regulations promulgated by the commissioner of health, and
30 consistent with the public health law, for:
31 (i) administering immunizations;
32 (ii) the emergency treatment of anaphylaxis;
33 (iii) administering purified protein derived (PPD) tests or other
34 tests to detect or screen for tuberculosis infections;
35 (iv) administering tests to determine the presence of the human immu-
36 nodeficiency virus;
37 (v) administering tests to determine the presence of the hepatitis C
38 virus;
39 (vi) the urgent or emergency treatment of opioid related overdose or
40 suspected opioid related overdose;
41 (vii) screening of persons at increased risk of syphilis, gonorrhea,
42 and chlamydia;
43 (viii) administering electrocardiogram tests to detect signs and symp-
44 toms of acute coronary syndrome;
45 (ix) administering point-of-care blood glucose tests to evaluate acute
46 mental status changes in persons with suspected hypoglycemia;
47 (x) administering tests and intravenous lines to persons that meet
48 severe sepsis and septic shock criteria; and
49 (xi) administering tests to determine pregnancy.
50 (b) Nothing in this subdivision shall authorize unlicensed persons to
51 administer immunizations, vaccines, or other drugs.
52 7. Where a physician assistant licensed under section sixty-five
53 hundred forty-one of this article has completed a program approved by
54 the department of health, in consultation with the department, when such
55 services are performed within the scope of such program.
S. 9038 3
1 8. Nothing in this article, or in article thirty-seven of the public
2 health law, shall be construed to authorize physician assistants to
3 perform those specific functions and duties specifically delegated by
4 law to those persons licensed as allied health professionals under the
5 public health law or this chapter.
6 § 2. Subdivision 1 of section 3701 of the public health law, as
7 amended by chapter 48 of the laws of 2012, is amended to read as
8 follows:
9 1. to promulgate regulations defining and restricting the duties
10 [which may be assigned to] of physician assistants [by their supervising
11 physician, the degree of supervision required and the manner in which
12 such duties may be performed] consistent with section sixty-five hundred
13 forty-two of the education law;
14 § 3. Subdivisions 1 and 3 of section 3702 of the public health law, as
15 amended by chapter 48 of the laws of 2012, are amended to read as
16 follows:
17 1. Inpatient medical orders. A licensed physician assistant employed
18 or extended privileges by a hospital may, if permissible under the
19 bylaws, rules and regulations of the hospital, write medical orders,
20 including those for controlled substances and durable medical equipment,
21 for inpatients [under the care of the physician responsible for his or
22 her supervision. Countersignature of such orders may be required if
23 deemed necessary and appropriate by the supervising physician or the
24 hospital, but in no event shall countersignature be required prior to
25 execution].
26 3. Prescriptions for controlled substances. A licensed physician
27 assistant, in good faith and acting within his or her lawful scope of
28 practice, and to the extent assigned by his or her supervising
29 physician, as applicable pursuant to section sixty-five hundred forty-
30 two of the education law, may prescribe controlled substances as a prac-
31 titioner under article thirty-three of this chapter, to patients under
32 the care of such physician responsible for his or her supervision. The
33 commissioner, in consultation with the commissioner of education, may
34 promulgate such regulations as are necessary to carry out the purposes
35 of this section.
36 § 4. Section 3703 of the public health law, as amended by chapter 48
37 of the laws of 2012, is amended to read as follows:
38 § 3703. Statutory construction. A physician assistant may perform any
39 function in conjunction with a medical service lawfully performed by the
40 physician assistant, in any health care setting, that a statute author-
41 izes or directs a physician to perform and that is appropriate to the
42 education, training and experience of the licensed physician assistant
43 and within the ordinary practice of the supervising physician, as appli-
44 cable pursuant to section sixty-five hundred forty-two of the education
45 law. This section shall not be construed to increase or decrease the
46 lawful scope of practice of a physician assistant under the education
47 law.
48 § 5. Paragraph a of subdivision 2 of section 902 of the education law,
49 as amended by chapter 376 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as
50 follows:
51 a. The board of education, and the trustee or board of trustees of
52 each school district, shall employ, at a compensation to be agreed upon
53 by the parties, a qualified physician, a physician assistant, or a nurse
54 practitioner to the extent authorized by the nurse practice act and
55 consistent with subdivision three of section six thousand nine hundred
56 two of this chapter, to perform the duties of the director of school
S. 9038 4
1 health services, including any duties conferred on the school physician
2 or school medical inspector under any provision of law, to perform and
3 coordinate the provision of health services in the public schools and to
4 provide health appraisals of students attending the public schools in
5 the city or district. The physicians, physicians assistants, or nurse
6 practitioners so employed shall be duly licensed pursuant to applicable
7 law.
8 § 6. Subdivision 5 of section 6810 of the education law, as added by
9 chapter 881 of the laws of 1972, is amended to read as follows:
10 5. Records of all prescriptions filled or refilled shall be maintained
11 for a period of at least five years and upon request made available for
12 inspection and copying by a representative of the department. Such
13 records shall indicate date of filling or refilling, [doctor's]
14 prescriber's name, patient's name and address and the name or initials
15 of the pharmacist who prepared, compounded, or dispensed the
16 prescription. Records of prescriptions for controlled substances shall
17 be maintained pursuant to requirements of article thirty-three of the
18 public health law.
19 § 7. Subdivision 27 of section 3302 of the public health law, as
20 amended by chapter 92 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read as
21 follows:
22 27. "Practitioner" means:
23 A physician, physician assistant, dentist, podiatrist, veterinarian,
24 scientific investigator, or other person licensed, or otherwise permit-
25 ted to dispense, administer or conduct research with respect to a
26 controlled substance in the course of a licensed professional practice
27 or research licensed pursuant to this article. Such person shall be
28 deemed a "practitioner" only as to such substances, or conduct relating
29 to such substances, as is permitted by [his] their license, permit or
30 otherwise permitted by law.
31 § 8. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
32 it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the department of
33 education and the department of health are authorized to promulgate,
34 amend and/or repeal any rule or regulation necessary for the implementa-
35 tion of section one of this act on or before such effective date.
