PRINTER'S NO. 870
No. 770 Session of 1985
INTRODUCED BY PRATT, APRIL 9, 1985
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON PROFESSIONAL LICENSURE, APRIL 9, 1985
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of October 5, 1978 (P.L.1109, No.261), entitled
2 "An act requiring the licensing of practitioners of
3 osteopathic medicine and surgery; regulating their practice;
4 providing for certain funds and penalties for violations and
5 repeals," further providing for physician assistants.
6 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
7 hereby enacts as follows:
8 Section 1. Section 10 of the act of October 5, 1978
9 (P.L.1109, No.261), known as the Osteopathic Medical Practice
10 Act, is amended to read:
11 Section 10. Licenses; exemptions; nonresident practitioners;
12 graduate students; biennial registration.
13 (a) Physicians who have complied with the requirements of
14 the board, have passed a final examination, and have otherwise
15 complied with the provisions of this act shall receive from the
16 Commissioner of Professional and Occupational Affairs in the
17 Department of State, or whoever exercises equivalent authority,
18 a license entitling them to practice osteopathic medicine and
19 surgery without restriction in this Commonwealth. The license
1 shall be recorded in the office of the board in a record to be
2 kept for that purpose. It shall be open to public inspection. A
3 certified copy of the record shall be received as evidence in
4 all courts in this Commonwealth. This section shall not apply to
5 medical officers in the medical service of the armed forces of
6 the United States, the United States Public Health Service, the
7 Veterans Administration, or physicians employed within Federal
8 services while in discharge of their official duties, to anyone
9 who may be a duly licensed practitioner of osteopathic medicine
10 and surgery in any jurisdiction who may be called upon by a
11 licensed physician of this Commonwealth to consult with him in a
12 case under treatment, to physicians of other jurisdictions who
13 are training for certification in special departments of
14 osteopathic medicine and surgery, or to anyone serving as a
15 clinical clerk under the supervision of the osteopathic medical
16 or surgical staff in any hospital. Nothing contained in this
17 section shall be construed to entitle a clinical clerk to
18 practice osteopathic medicine and surgery or to prescribe drugs.
19 A duly licensed physician residing in or maintaining his office
20 of practice in a state near the boundary line between said state
21 and this Commonwealth whose practice extends into this
22 Commonwealth shall have the right to practice in this
23 Commonwealth, at the discretion of the board, provided he files
24 with the secretary of the board a certified copy of his license
25 in the state where he resides, and that the board of examiners
26 of the adjoining state reciprocates by extending the same
27 privilege to physicians in this Commonwealth. He shall receive
28 from the secretary of the board a license which shall
29 automatically become null and void whenever he changes his
30 residence or office of practice. A record of all persons so
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1 licensed shall be kept in the office of the board and shall have
2 the same efficacy as any other license issued by the board.
3 (b) Physicians who are legally authorized to practice
4 osteopathic medicine and surgery in this State or other states
5 or territories of the United States or the Dominion of Canada
6 who apply for training and certification in special departments
7 of osteopathic medicine and surgery in institutions in this
8 Commonwealth recognized by the board with advice and
9 consultation with the various examining boards in osteopathic
10 medical specialties approved by the Council on Osteopathic
11 Education of the American Osteopathic Association as proper for
12 such training, shall receive a graduate certificate limited to
13 said training within the complex of the hospital or its
14 affiliates or community hospitals where he is engaged in such
15 training. This training experience shall not be converted into a
16 staff service. The certificate shall be valid for one year. It
17 may be renewed from year to year. A person who has been
18 certified in a specialty discipline recognized by the board who
19 makes an application for licensure to practice osteopathic
20 medicine and surgery without restriction in the Commonwealth,
21 upon the payment of a fee may be given a qualifying examination.
22 The examination shall emphasize the subject matter of the
23 specialty discipline for which the applicant has been trained.
24 It may include material from the general field of osteopathic
25 medical science.
26 (c) It shall be the duty of those licensed to practice
27 osteopathic medicine and surgery without restriction to register
28 with the board and to reregister at such intervals and by such
29 methods as the board shall for a period determine. Such renewal
30 period shall not be longer than two years. The form and method
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1 of such registration shall be determined by the board.
2 (d) A person registering with the board shall pay, for each
3 biennial registration, a fee. It shall accompany the application
4 for registration.
5 (e) Upon receiving a proper application for registration
6 accompanied by the fee, the board shall issue its certificate of
7 registration to the applicant. It and its renewals shall be good
8 and sufficient evidence of registration.
9 (f) The board shall grant certification to physician
10 assistants and shall be suspect to biennial renewal by the
11 board. The board shall grant certification to applicants who
12 have fulfilled the following criteria:
13 (1) Satisfactory performance on the proficiency
14 examination, to the extent that a proficiency examination
15 exists.
16 (2) Satisfactory completion of a certified program for
17 the training and education of physician assistants.
18 In the event that completion of a formal training and
19 educational program is a prerequisite to taking the proficiency
20 examination, the board shall have the power if it determines
21 that the experience of the applicant is of such magnitude and
22 scope so as to render further formal training and education
23 nonessential to the applicant in assisting a physician in the
24 provision of medical care and services, to waive the training
25 and education requirements under this section.
26 (g) The supervising physician shall file with the board an
27 application to utilize a physician assistant containing a
28 description of the manner in which the physician assistant will
29 assist the supervising physician in his practice, the method and
30 frequency of supervision and the geographic location of the
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1 physician assistant. In no instance may a physician supervise
2 more than two physician assistants at any time. In cases where a
3 group of physicians will supervise a physician assistant, the
4 names of all supervisory physicians shall be included on the
5 application.
6 (h) The board shall establish such rules and regulations,
7 relating to physician assistants, as it deems necessary to
8 protect the public and to implement the provisions of this act,
9 including, but not limited to reasonable procedures for
10 identification of physician assistants and for informing
11 patients and the public at large of the use of physician
12 assistants.
13 (i) Information concerning the use of each type of physician
14 assistant shall be collected and reports thereof furnished to
15 the General Assembly annually by the board, including the
16 geographic location of physician assistants and the setting of
17 their practice, i.e., rural, clinic, hospitals or physician's
18 offices.
19 (j) Nothing in this act shall be construed to permit a
20 certified physician assistant to practice osteopathic medicine
21 without the supervision and direction of a licensed physician
22 approved by the appropriate board, but such supervision and
23 direction shall not be construed to necessarily require the
24 personal presence of the supervising physician at the place
25 where the services are rendered.
26 (k) This act shall not be construed to prohibit the
27 performance by the physician assistant of any service within his
28 skills, which is delegated by the supervising physician, and
29 which forms a usual component of that physician's scope of
30 practice.
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1 (l) Nothing in this act shall be construed to prohibit the
2 employment of physician assistants by a health care facility
3 where such physician assistants function under the supervision
4 and direction of a physician or group of physicians.
5 (m) The physician assistant being certified in this act and
6 functioning under the supervision of the physician defines
7 his/her status as an employee and subject to the normal
8 employer/employee reimbursement procedures.
9 (n) No medical services may be performed by a physician
10 assistant under this act which include the measurement of the
11 range of powers of human vision or the determination of the
12 refractive status of the human eye. This subsection does not
13 prohibit the performance of routine vision screenings or the
14 performance of refractive screenings in the physician's office.
15 (o) Nothing in this act shall be construed to allow
16 physician assistants to practice chiropractic.
17 (p) Nothing in this act shall be construed to permit a
18 physician assistant to independently prescribe or dispense
19 drugs. [The board and State Board of Pharmacy will jointly
20 develop regulations to permit a physician assistant to prescribe
21 and dispense drugs at the direction of a licensed physician.] A
22 physician assistant shall prescribe or dispense drugs only under
23 the direct supervision of a licensed physician, if regulations
24 have been promulgated by the board and by the State Board of
25 Pharmacy to permit a physician assistant to prescribe and
26 dispense drugs.
27 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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