(a) Notwithstanding any other law, a PA may perform medical services as authorized by this chapter if the following requirements are met:

(1) The PA renders the services under the supervision of a licensed physician and surgeon who is not subject to a disciplinary condition imposed by the Medical Board of California or by the Osteopathic Medical Board of California prohibiting that supervision or prohibiting the employment of a physician assistant.

Terms Used In California Business and Professions Code 3502

  • Board: means the Physician Assistant Board. See California Business and Professions Code 3501
  • Licensee: means any person authorized by a license, certificate, registration, or other means to engage in a business or profession regulated by this code or referred to in Sections 1000 and 3600. See California Business and Professions Code 23.8
  • Practice agreement: means the writing, developed through collaboration among one or more physicians and surgeons and one or more physician assistants, that defines the medical services the physician assistant is authorized to perform pursuant to Section 3502 and that grants approval for physicians and surgeons on the staff of an organized health care system to supervise one or more physician assistants in the organized health care system. See California Business and Professions Code 3501
  • Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
  • Regulations: means the rules and regulations as set forth in Division 13. See California Business and Professions Code 3501
  • Routine visual screening: means noninvasive, nonpharmacological simple testing for visual acuity, visual field defects, color blindness, and depth perception. See California Business and Professions Code 3501
  • Subdivision: means a subdivision of the section in which that term occurs, unless some other section is expressly mentioned. See California Business and Professions Code 15
  • supervising physician and surgeon: means a physician and surgeon licensed by the Medical Board of California or by the Osteopathic Medical Board of California who supervises one or more physician assistants, who possesses a current valid license to practice medicine, and who is not currently on disciplinary probation prohibiting the employment or supervision of a physician assistant. See California Business and Professions Code 3501
  • Supervision: means that a licensed physician and surgeon oversees the activities of, and accepts responsibility for, the medical services rendered by a physician assistant. See California Business and Professions Code 3501

(2) The PA renders the services pursuant to a practice agreement that meets the requirements of Section 3502.3.

(3) The PA is competent to perform the services.

(4) The PA’s education, training, and experience have prepared the PA to render the services.

(b) (1) Notwithstanding any other law, a physician assistant performing medical services under the supervision of a physician and surgeon may assist a doctor of podiatric medicine who is a partner, shareholder, or employee in the same medical group as the supervising physician and surgeon. A physician assistant who assists a doctor of podiatric medicine pursuant to this subdivision shall do so only according to patient-specific orders from a supervising physician and surgeon.

(2) A supervising physician and surgeon shall be available to the physician assistant for consultation when assistance is rendered pursuant to this subdivision. A physician assistant assisting a doctor of podiatric medicine shall be limited to performing those duties included within the scope of practice of a doctor of podiatric medicine.

(c) Nothing in regulations shall require that a physician and surgeon review or countersign a medical record of a patient treated by a physician assistant, unless required by the practice agreement. The board may, as a condition of probation or reinstatement of a licensee, require the review or countersignature of records of patients treated by a physician assistant for a specified duration.

(d) This chapter does not authorize the performance of medical services in any of the following areas:

(1) The determination of the refractive states of the human eye, or the fitting or adaptation of lenses or frames for the aid thereof.

(2) The prescribing or directing the use of, or using, any optical device in connection with ocular exercises, visual training, or orthoptics.

(3) The prescribing of contact lenses for, or the fitting or adaptation of contact lenses to, the human eye.

(4) The practice of dentistry or dental hygiene or the work of a dental auxiliary as defined in Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 1600).

(e) This section shall not be construed in a manner that shall preclude the performance of routine visual screening as defined in Section 3501.

(f) Notwithstanding any other law, a PA rendering services in a general acute care hospital as defined in § 1250 of the Health and Safety Code shall be supervised by a physician and surgeon with privileges to practice in that hospital. Within a general acute care hospital, the practice agreement shall establish policies and procedures to identify a physician and surgeon who is supervising the PA.

(Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 707, Sec. 3. (SB 697) Effective January 1, 2020.)

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