A new bill in the Idaho Senate would allow physician assistants (PAs) to form collaboration agreements with physicians or work without formal agreements in certain health care settings. The bill, known as Senate Bill 1093 (SB 1093), can be read in full here. Currently, SB 1093 is assigned to the Health and Welfare Committee for further consideration. The primary sponsor of the bill appears to be the Idaho Academy of Physician Assistants.
Currently, PAs in Idaho must practice under a board-approved delegation of services agreement with a supervising physician. Their scope of practice and prescriptive authority are defined in these written agreements. SB 1093 would change this relationship to one of collaboration. SB 1093 would require that PAs now enter into written collaboration agreements with physicians, which require that they consult or collaborate on patient care based on:
Alternatively, PAs who practice in licensed health care facilities, facilities with a credentialing system or physician-owned facilities can collaborate with other members of the health care team based on the facility bylaws and procedures, or in a written agreement. In other practice instances, including in a PA-owned practice, they would need to maintain the written agreement with a physician. Under this new bill, PAs would be professionally and legally responsible for the care they provide.
This bill would not give practice independence, as either the collaborative agreement or facility-based requirements are still present. It would, however, vastly simplify the paperwork needed to practice and make keeping up with the agreements much easier. This would be a step forward in the national trend to reduce practice restrictions on PAs and other advanced practitioners.
We will be monitoring this SB 1093 as it advances though the Idaho legislative process this year.