Arkansas 2025 Regular Session

Arkansas House Bill HB1251 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
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3	3	State of Arkansas 1
4	4	95th General Assembly A Bill 2
5	5	Regular Session, 2025 HOUSE BILL 1251 3
6	6	4
7	7	By: Representatives L. Johnson, F. Allen, Barnes, K. Ferguson, Gramlich, Long, Magie, K. Moore, Perry, 5
8	8	Pilkington, J. Richardson 6
9	9	By: Senators K. Hammer, Irvin, D. Wallace, Flippo, G. Leding, F. Love, J. Payton 7
10	10	8
11	11	For An Act To Be Entitled 9
12	12	AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE ARKANSAS ANESTHESIOLOGIST 10
13	13	ASSISTANT ACT; TO PROVIDE FOR LICENSURE OF 11
14	14	ANESTHESIOLOGIST ASSISTANTS; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 12
15	15	13
16	16	14
17	17	Subtitle 15
18	18	TO ESTABLISH THE ARKANSAS 16
19	19	ANESTHESIOLOGIST ASSISTANT ACT; AND TO 17
20	20	PROVIDE FOR LICENSURE OF 18
21	21	ANESTHESIOLOGIST ASSISTANTS. 19
22	22	20
23	23	BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 21
24	24	22
25	25	SECTION 1. Arkansas Code Title 17, Chapter 95, is amended to add an 23
26	26	additional subchapter to read as follows: 24
27	27	Subchapter 12 – Arkansas Anesthesiologist Assistant Act 25
28	28	26
29	29	17-95-1201. Title. 27
30	30	This subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Arkansas 28
31	31	Anesthesiologist Assistant Act”. 29
32	32	30
33	33	17-95-1202. Definitions. 31
34	34	As used in this subchapter: 32
35	35	(1) “Anesthesiologist assistant” means a graduate of an approved 33
36	36	program who is licensed to perform services delegated and directly supervised 34
37	37	by a supervising anesthesiologist; 35
38	38	(2) “Approved program” means a program for the education and 36 HB1251
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41	41	training of anesthesiologist assistants approved by the Arkansas State 1
42	42	Medical Board; and 2
43	43	(3) “Direct supervision” means the on -site, personal supervision 3
44	44	by an anesthesiologist who is: 4
45	45	(A) Present in the office or surgical or obstetrical suite 5
46	46	when a procedure is being performed in the office or surgical or obstetrical 6
47	47	suite; and 7
48	48	(B) In all instances immediately available to provide 8
49	49	assistance and direction to the anesthesiologist assistant while anesthesia 9
50	50	services are being performed. 10
51	51	11
52	52	17-95-1203. Arkansas State Medical Board — Powers and duties under 12
53	53	subchapter. 13
54	54	(a) The Arkansas State Medical Board shall: 14
55	55	(1) License and renew the licenses of qualified applicants under 15
56	56	this subchapter; 16
57	57	(2)(A) Maintain a current list of every person licensed to 17
58	58	practice under this subchapter. 18
59	59	(B) The list under subdivision (a)(2)(A) of this section 19
60	60	shall show: 20
61	61	(i) The licensee’s last known place of residence; 21
62	62	and 22
63	63	(ii) The date and number of the license; 23
64	64	(3) Discipline persons who violate this subchapter and incur 24
65	65	necessary expenses of the prosecution; 25
66	66	(4) Keep a record of all proceedings of the board under this 26
67	67	subchapter and make the record available to the public for inspection during 27
68	68	reasonable business hours; 28
69	69	(5) Conduct hearings regarding discipline of a licensee under 29
70	70	this subchapter or denial, revocation, or suspension of a license under this 30
71	71	subchapter; and 31
72	72	(6)(A) Share information on a case -by-case basis of a person 32
73	73	whose license has been suspended, revoked, or denied under this subchapter. 33
74	74	(B) The information under subdivision (a)(6)(A) of this 34
75	75	section shall include: 35
76	76	(i) The name of the person whose license has been 36 HB1251
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79	79	suspended, revoked, or denied; 1
80	80	(ii) The type and cause of the action; 2
81	81	(iii) The date upon which a penalty is imposed; 3
82	82	(iv) The type of penalty imposed; or 4
83	83	(v) The duration of the penalty imposed. 5
84	84	(C) The information under subdivision (a)(6)(A) of this 6
85	85	section shall be available for public inspection during reasonable business 7
86	86	hours and shall be supplied to licensing entities in other states upon 8
87	87	request. 9
88	88	(b) The board may: 10
89	89	(1) Promulgate rules as necessary to enforce this subchapter 11
90	90	consistent with state law; 12
91	91	(2) Employ personnel as necessary to assist the board in 13
92	92	performing its duties under this subchapter; 14
93	93	(3) Establish license renewal requirements and procedures under 15
94	94	this subchapter as deemed appropriate by the board ; 16
95	95	(4)(A) Secure the services of resource consultants as deemed 17
96	96	necessary by the board in performing its duties under this subchapter. 18
97	97	(B) The board shall reimburse resource consultants for all 19
98	98	actual and necessary expenses incurred while engaged in consultative service 20
99	99	to the board; and 21
100	100	(5) Establish license examination fees under this subchapter by 22
101	101	rule. 23
102	102	24
103	103	17-95-1204. Licensing. 25
104	104	(a) A person applying for licensure as an anesthesiologist assistant 26
105	105	under this subchapter shall submit an application to the Arkansas State 27
106	106	Medical Board on forms approved by the board. 28
107	107	(b) An application under this section is not effective for more than 29
108	108	one (1) year from the date of the original submission of the application and 30
109	109	fee, after which time an applicant shall submit to the board a new 31
110	110	application and fee. 32
111	111	(c)(1) To qualify for licensure under this subchapter, an applicant 33
112	112	under this section shall obtain a passing score on the examination 34
113	113	administered through the National Commission for Certification of 35
114	114	Anesthesiologist Assistants. 36 HB1251
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117	117	(2) A passing score under subdivision (c)(1) of this section 1
118	118	shall be established by the National Commission for Certification of 2
119	119	Anesthesiologist Assistants. 3
120	120	4
121	121	17-95-1205. Supervisory relationship. 5
122	122	(a) An anesthesiologist or anesthesiologist group, upon entering into 6
123	123	a supervisory relationship with a licensed anesthesiologist assistant, shall 7
124	124	file with the Arkansas State Medical Board a written protocol, including 8
125	125	without limitation: 9
126	126	(1) The name, address, and license number of the 10
127	127	anesthesiologist assistant; 11
128	128	(2) The name, address, license number, and United States Drug 12
129	129	Enforcement Administration registration number of each anesthesiologist who 13
130	130	will supervise the anesthesiologist assistant; 14
131	131	(3) The address of the anesthesiologist assistant’s primary 15
132	132	practice location where the anesthesiologist assistant may practice; 16
133	133	(4) The date the protocol was developed and the date of all 17
134	134	revisions; 18
135	135	(5) The designation and signature of the primary supervising 19
136	136	anesthesiologist; 20
137	137	(6) The signatures of the anesthesiologist assistant and all 21
138	138	supervising anesthesiologists; 22
139	139	(7) The duties and functions of the anesthesiologist assistant; 23
140	140	(8) The conditions or procedures that require the provision of 24
141	141	care by a supervising anesthesiologist; and 25
142	142	(9) The procedures to be followed in the event of an anesthetic 26
143	143	emergency. 27
144	144	(b) The protocol required under subsection (a) of this section shall 28
145	145	be filed with the board before the anesthesiologist assistant begins practice 29
146	146	with the supervising anesthesiologist or anesthesiology group. 30
147	147	(c) An anesthesiologist assistant may perform the following duties 31
148	148	under the direct supervision of an anesthesiologist: 32
149	149	(1) Obtain a comprehensive patient history and present the 33
150	150	history to the supervising anesthesiologist; 34
151	151	(2) Pretest and calibrate anesthesia delivery systems and 35
152	152	monitor, obtain, and interpret information from the anesthesia delivery 36 HB1251
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155	155	systems; 1
156	156	(3) Assist the supervising anesthesiologist with implementation 2
157	157	of monitoring techniques; 3
158	158	(4) Establish basic and advanced airway interventions, including 4
159	159	intubations of the trachea and performance of ventilator support; 5
160	160	(5) Administer intermittent vasoactive drugs and start and 6
161	161	adjust vasoactive infusions; 7
162	162	(6) Administer anesthetic drugs, adjuvant drugs, and accessory 8
163	163	drugs; 9
164	164	(7) Perform epidural anesthetic procedures and spinal anesthetic 10
165	165	procedures; 11
166	166	(8) Administer blood, blood products, and supportive fluids; 12
167	167	(9) Support life functions during the administration of 13
168	168	anesthesia, including without limitation induction and intubation procedures, 14
169	169	the use of appropriate mechanical supportive devices, and the management of 15
170	170	fluids, electrolytes, and blood component balances; 16
171	171	(10) Recognize and take appropriate corrective action for 17
172	172	abnormal patient responses to anesthesia, adjunctive medication, or other 18
173	173	forms of therapy; 19
174	174	(11) Participate in management of the patient while in the post -20
175	175	anesthesia recovery area, including the administration of supporting fluids; 21
176	176	and 22
177	177	(12) Place special peripheral and central venous and arterial 23
178	178	lines for blood sampling and monitoring as appropriate. 24
179	179	(d)(1) The supervising anesthesiologist shall delegate only tasks and 25
180	180	procedures to the anesthesiologist assistant that are within the supervising 26
181	181	anesthesiologist’s scope of practice. 27
182	182	(2) The anesthesiologist assistant may work in any setting that 28
183	183	is within the scope of practice of the supervising anesthesiologist’s 29
184	184	practice. 30
185	185	(e) Continuity of supervision in practice settings requires the 31
186	186	anesthesiologist assistant to document in the anesthesia record any change in 32
187	187	supervising anesthesiologist. 33
188	188	(f) The tasks and procedures performed by the anesthesiologist 34
189	189	assistant shall be documented in the appropriate medical record. 35
190	190	36