Chapter 320
2013 -- H 5418
Enacted 07/15/13
A N A C T
RELATING TO
BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS - PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS
Introduced By: Representatives Ferri, Bennett, Almeida, Cimini, and McNamara
Date Introduced: February 13, 2013
It is enacted by the
General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Sections 5-54-2 and 5-54-7 of the General Laws in
Chapter 5-54 entitled
"Physician
Assistants" are hereby amended to read as follows:
5-54-2.
Definitions. -- As used in this chapter, the
following words have the following
meanings:
(1)
"Administrator" means the administrator, division of professional
regulation.
(2) "Approved
program" means a program for the education and training of physician
assistants formally approved by the American Medical
Association's (A.M.A.'s) Committee on
Allied Health, Education and Accreditation, its
successor, the Commission on Accreditation of
Allied Health Education Programs
(CAAHEP) or its successor.
(3) "Approved
program for continuing medical education" means a program for
continuing education approved by the
Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education
of the American Medical Association
(AMA), or the
Association Committee on Continuing Medical Education
(AOACCME) or any other board
approved program.
(4) "Board"
means the board of licensure of physician assistants.
(5) "Director"
means the director of the department of health.
(6)
"Division" means the division of professional regulation, department
of health.
(7) "Formulary
committee" means a committee empowered to develop a list of
medications that physician assistants may prescribe.
(8)
"Physician" means a person licensed under the provisions of chapter
29 or 37 of this
title.
(9) "Physician
assistant" means a person who is qualified by academic and practical
training to provide those certain patient services under the
supervision, control, responsibility and
direction of a licensed physician.
(10)
"Supervision" means overseeing the activities of, and accepting the
responsibility
for the medical services rendered by the physician
assistants. Supervision is continuous, and
under the direct control of a licensed physician expert in
the field of medicine in which the
physician assistants practice. The constant physical presence
of the supervising physician or
physician designee is not required. It is the responsibility of
the supervising physician and
physician assistant to assure an appropriate level of
supervision depending on the services being
rendered. Each physician or group of physicians, or other
health care delivery organization
excluding licensed hospital or licensed health care facilities
controlled or operated by a licensed
hospital employing physician assistants must have on file at
the primary practice site a copy of a
policy in the form of an agreement between the supervising
physicians and physician assistants
delineating:
(i)
The level of supervision provided by the supervising physician or designee with
particular reference to differing levels of supervision
depending on the type of patient services
provided and requirements for communication between the
supervising physician or designee and
the physician assistant.
(ii) A job description
for the physician assistant listing patient care responsibilities and
procedures to be performed by the physician assistant.
(iii) A program for
quality assurance for physician assistant services including
requirements for periodic review of the physician assistant
services.
(iv)
Requirements for supervision of physician assistants employed or extended
medical
staff privileges by licensed hospitals or other licensed
health care facilities or employed by other
health care delivery agencies shall be delineated by the
medical staff by laws and/or applicable
governing authority of the facility.
(v) The supervising
physician or physician designee must be available for easy
communication and referral at all times.
(11)
"Unprofessional conduct" includes, but is not limited to, the
following items or any
combination and may be defined by regulations established by the
board with prior approval of
the director:
(i)
Fraudulent or deceptive procuring or use of a license;
(ii) Representation of
himself or herself as a physician;
(iii) Conviction of a
crime involving moral turpitude; conviction of a felony; conviction
of a crime arising out of the practice of medicine. All
advertising of medical business, which is
intended or has a tendency to deceive the public;
(iv)
Abandonment of a patient;
(v) Dependence upon a
controlled substance, habitual drunkenness, or rendering
professional services to a patient while intoxicated or
incapacitated by the use of drugs;
(vi)
Promotion of the sale of drugs, devices appliances, or goods or services
provided for
a patient in a manner that exploits the patient for the
financial gain of the physician assistant;
(vii) Immoral conduct
of a physician assistant in the practice of medicine;
(viii) Willfully making
and filing false reports or records;
(ix) Willful omission
to file or record or willfully impeding or obstructing a filing or
recording, or inducing another person to omit to file or record
medical or other reports as required
by law;
(x) Agreeing with
clinical or bioanalytical laboratories to accept
payments from these
laboratories for individual tests or test series for patients;
(xi) Practicing with an
unlicensed physician or physician assistant or aiding or abetting
these unlicensed persons in the practice of medicine;
(xii) Offering,
undertaking or agreeing to cure or treat a disease by a secret method,
procedure, treatment or medicine;
(xiii) Professional or
mental incompetence;
(xiv) Surrender,
revocation, suspension, limitation of privilege based on quality of care
provided, or any other disciplinary action against a license
or authorization to practice in another
state or jurisdiction; or surrender, revocation,
suspension, or any other disciplinary action relating
to membership on any medical staff or in any medical
professional association, or society while
under disciplinary investigation by any of those
authorities or bodies for acts or conduct similar to
acts or conduct which would constitute grounds for action
as stated in this chapter;
(xv) Any adverse
judgment, settlement, or award arising from a medical liability claim
related to acts or conduct, which would constitute grounds
for action as stated in this chapter;
(xvi) Failure to
furnish the board, the administrator, investigator or representatives,
information legally requested by the board;
(xvii) Violation of any
provisions of this chapter or the rules and regulations
promulgated by the director or an action, stipulation, or
agreement of the board;
(xviii) Cheating or
attempting to subvert the certifying examination;
(xix) Violating any
state or federal law or regulation relating to controlled substances;
(xx) Medical
malpractice;
(xxi) Sexual contact
between a physician assistant and patient during the existence of the
physician assistant/patient relationship;
(xxii) Providing
services to a person who is making a claim as a result of a personal
injury, who charges or collects from the person any amount
in excess of the reimbursement to the
physician assistant by the insurer as a condition of providing
or continuing to provide services or
treatment.
5-54-7.
Board of licensure -- Powers and duties. -- (a) The board shall administer,
coordinate, and enforce the provisions of this chapter, approve
programs for the training of
physician assistants,
evaluate the qualifications of applicants, supervise any examination of
applicants deemed necessary, recommend to the director the
commencement of disciplinary
hearings in accordance with chapter 35 of title 42 and the
provisions of this chapter, and
investigate persons engaging in practices which violate the
provisions of this chapter. This
authority shall specifically encompass practicing physician
assistants, supervisory physicians, and
those health care agencies employing physician assistants.
The board shall investigate all persons
and agencies engaging in practices which violate the
provisions in this chapter.
(b) The board shall
conduct hearings of a non-disciplinary nature and shall keep the
records and minutes that are necessary to an orderly dispatch
of business.
(c) The board, with the
approval of the director of the department of health, shall adopt
rules and regulations necessary to carry into effect the
provisions of this chapter and may amend
or repeal them.
(d) Regular meetings of
the board shall be held at any time and places that the board
prescribes and special meetings shall be held upon the call of
the chairperson; provided, that at
least one regular meeting is held each year.
(e) The conferral or
enumeration of specific powers in this chapter shall not be construed
as a limitation of the general powers conferred by this
section.
(f) The board shall
recommend to the director for registration those persons meeting the
criteria stated by this chapter.
(g) The board shall
recommend to the director the revocation or suspension of the
registration of any physician assistant who does not conform to
the requirements of this chapter
or regulations adopted under this chapter.
(h) In accordance with
its authority under subsection (a) of this section the board shall
make recommendations to the director for discipline of
supervising physicians and employing
health care agencies found wanting in their use of physician
assistants.
(i)
The board shall approve programs for continuing medical education.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC01070
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