Introduction

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All states have enacted laws and/or regulations recognizing physician assistants (PAs). This publication contains summaries of more than two dozen key provisions of each state's statute and regulations, complete with legal citations. The states are presented in alphabetical order, with each law followed by its regulations. Both should be read to provide a complete picture of the requirements and conditions for PA practice.

Summaries are also provided for the separate laws and rules for PAs who are supervised by osteopathic physicians in eight states ( Florida, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Washington, and West Virginia ).

Readers should recognize that laws and regulations are frequently amended. Complete, up-to-date information is available from the PA regulatory authority in each state. This book contains a list of regulatory agencies with addresses, phone numbers, and Web sites.

Also provided is a chart that presents an overview of PA licensure or state certification requirements. The chart includes the two nationally recognized criteria: graduation from a PA program accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA), or its predecessors, the Committee on Allied Health Education and Accreditation (CAHEA) and the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP), and passage of the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) examination. It does not include educational degrees, which are mentioned in only nine states - Arkansas, Connecticut, Idaho, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

All states require that PAs pass the national certifying examination. Twenty-three jurisdictions require PAs seeking licensure to have a current NCCPA certificate. Others require maintenance of NCCPA certification only as a condition of license renewal. Some states require NCCPA certification prior to practicing, but the majority of states will grant temporary approvals to new graduates who are waiting to take the exam or who have taken it but have not yet received the results.

A very small number of states will allow individuals to practice while their applications are being processed by the licensing board, but as a general rule, practice is not permitted until a license or state certificate is issued.

The vast majority of states have authorized physicians to delegate prescriptive privileges to PAs. In early 2006, the number was 48 plus the District of Columbia. Forty-four of these states allow PAs to prescribe controlled substances.

PAs are playing an ever-increasing role in the regulation of their own profession. Nine states have

regulatory bodies strictly for PAs ( Arizona, California, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Rhode

Island, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah ). Almost all state medical boards have PA committees. Some of

the committees are advisory, but others have significant responsibilities in rulemaking, review of applications, and discipline. There are seats for PAs on 18 medical or osteopathic boards.

The first edition of Physician Assistants: State Laws and Regulations was published in 1982. This edition, the tenth, reflects the trend toward uniformity among the states and a growing recognition and respect for the excellent quality of care delivered by PAs.