Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
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State of Arkansas 1
95th General Assembly A Bill 2
Regular Session, 2025 HOUSE BILL 1251 3
4
By: Representatives L. Johnson, F. Allen, Barnes, K. Ferguson, Gramlich, Long, Magie, K. Moore, Perry, 5
Pilkington, J. Richardson 6
By: Senators K. Hammer, Irvin, D. Wallace, Flippo, G. Leding, F. Love, J. Payton 7
8
For An Act To Be Entitled 9
AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE ARKANSAS ANESTHESIOLOGIST 10
ASSISTANT ACT; TO PROVIDE FOR LICENSURE OF 11
ANESTHESIOLOGIST ASSISTANTS; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 12
13
14
Subtitle 15
TO ESTABLISH THE ARKANSAS 16
ANESTHESIOLOGIST ASSISTANT ACT; AND TO 17
PROVIDE FOR LICENSURE OF 18
ANESTHESIOLOGIST ASSISTANTS. 19
20
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 21
22
SECTION 1. Arkansas Code Title 17, Chapter 95, is amended to add an 23
additional subchapter to read as follows: 24
Subchapter 12 – Arkansas Anesthesiologist Assistant Act 25
26
17-95-1201. Title. 27
This subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Arkansas 28
Anesthesiologist Assistant Act”. 29
30
17-95-1202. Definitions. 31
As used in this subchapter: 32
(1) “Anesthesiologist assistant” means a graduate of an approved 33
program who is licensed to perform services delegated and directly supervised 34
by a supervising anesthesiologist; 35
(2) “Approved program” means a program for the education and 36 HB1251
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training of anesthesiologist assistants approved by the Arkansas State 1
Medical Board; and 2
(3) “Direct supervision” means the on -site, personal supervision 3
by an anesthesiologist who is: 4
(A) Present in the office or surgical or obstetrical suite 5
when a procedure is being performed in the office or surgical or obstetrical 6
suite; and 7
(B) In all instances immediately available to provide 8
assistance and direction to the anesthesiologist assistant while anesthesia 9
services are being performed. 10
11
17-95-1203. Arkansas State Medical Board — Powers and duties under 12
subchapter. 13
(a) The Arkansas State Medical Board shall: 14
(1) License and renew the licenses of qualified applicants under 15
this subchapter; 16
(2)(A) Maintain a current list of every person licensed to 17
practice under this subchapter. 18
(B) The list under subdivision (a)(2)(A) of this section 19
shall show: 20
(i) The licensee’s last known place of residence; 21
and 22
(ii) The date and number of the license; 23
(3) Discipline persons who violate this subchapter and incur 24
necessary expenses of the prosecution; 25
(4) Keep a record of all proceedings of the board under this 26
subchapter and make the record available to the public for inspection during 27
reasonable business hours; 28
(5) Conduct hearings regarding discipline of a licensee under 29
this subchapter or denial, revocation, or suspension of a license under this 30
subchapter; and 31
(6)(A) Share information on a case -by-case basis of a person 32
whose license has been suspended, revoked, or denied under this subchapter. 33
(B) The information under subdivision (a)(6)(A) of this 34
section shall include: 35
(i) The name of the person whose license has been 36 HB1251
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suspended, revoked, or denied; 1
(ii) The type and cause of the action; 2
(iii) The date upon which a penalty is imposed; 3
(iv) The type of penalty imposed; or 4
(v) The duration of the penalty imposed. 5
(C) The information under subdivision (a)(6)(A) of this 6
section shall be available for public inspection during reasonable business 7
hours and shall be supplied to licensing entities in other states upon 8
request. 9
(b) The board may: 10
(1) Promulgate rules as necessary to enforce this subchapter 11
consistent with state law; 12
(2) Employ personnel as necessary to assist the board in 13
performing its duties under this subchapter; 14
(3) Establish license renewal requirements and procedures under 15
this subchapter as deemed appropriate by the board ; 16
(4)(A) Secure the services of resource consultants as deemed 17
necessary by the board in performing its duties under this subchapter. 18
(B) The board shall reimburse resource consultants for all 19
actual and necessary expenses incurred while engaged in consultative service 20
to the board; and 21
(5) Establish license examination fees under this subchapter by 22
rule. 23
24
17-95-1204. Licensing. 25
(a) A person applying for licensure as an anesthesiologist assistant 26
under this subchapter shall submit an application to the Arkansas State 27
Medical Board on forms approved by the board. 28
(b) An application under this section is not effective for more than 29
one (1) year from the date of the original submission of the application and 30
fee, after which time an applicant shall submit to the board a new 31
application and fee. 32
(c)(1) To qualify for licensure under this subchapter, an applicant 33
under this section shall obtain a passing score on the examination 34
administered through the National Commission for Certification of 35
Anesthesiologist Assistants. 36 HB1251
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(2) A passing score under subdivision (c)(1) of this section 1
shall be established by the National Commission for Certification of 2
Anesthesiologist Assistants. 3
4
17-95-1205. Supervisory relationship. 5
(a) An anesthesiologist or anesthesiologist group, upon entering into 6
a supervisory relationship with a licensed anesthesiologist assistant, shall 7
file with the Arkansas State Medical Board a written protocol, including 8
without limitation: 9
(1) The name, address, and license number of the 10
anesthesiologist assistant; 11
(2) The name, address, license number, and United States Drug 12
Enforcement Administration registration number of each anesthesiologist who 13
will supervise the anesthesiologist assistant; 14
(3) The address of the anesthesiologist assistant’s primary 15
practice location where the anesthesiologist assistant may practice; 16
(4) The date the protocol was developed and the date of all 17
revisions; 18
(5) The designation and signature of the primary supervising 19
anesthesiologist; 20
(6) The signatures of the anesthesiologist assistant and all 21
supervising anesthesiologists; 22
(7) The duties and functions of the anesthesiologist assistant; 23
(8) The conditions or procedures that require the provision of 24
care by a supervising anesthesiologist; and 25
(9) The procedures to be followed in the event of an anesthetic 26
emergency. 27
(b) The protocol required under subsection (a) of this section shall 28
be filed with the board before the anesthesiologist assistant begins practice 29
with the supervising anesthesiologist or anesthesiology group. 30
(c) An anesthesiologist assistant may perform the following duties 31
under the direct supervision of an anesthesiologist: 32
(1) Obtain a comprehensive patient history and present the 33
history to the supervising anesthesiologist; 34
(2) Pretest and calibrate anesthesia delivery systems and 35
monitor, obtain, and interpret information from the anesthesia delivery 36 HB1251
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systems; 1
(3) Assist the supervising anesthesiologist with implementation 2
of monitoring techniques; 3
(4) Establish basic and advanced airway interventions, including 4
intubations of the trachea and performance of ventilator support; 5
(5) Administer intermittent vasoactive drugs and start and 6
adjust vasoactive infusions; 7
(6) Administer anesthetic drugs, adjuvant drugs, and accessory 8
drugs; 9
(7) Perform epidural anesthetic procedures and spinal anesthetic 10
procedures; 11
(8) Administer blood, blood products, and supportive fluids; 12
(9) Support life functions during the administration of 13
anesthesia, including without limitation induction and intubation procedures, 14
the use of appropriate mechanical supportive devices, and the management of 15
fluids, electrolytes, and blood component balances; 16
(10) Recognize and take appropriate corrective action for 17
abnormal patient responses to anesthesia, adjunctive medication, or other 18
forms of therapy; 19
(11) Participate in management of the patient while in the post -20
anesthesia recovery area, including the administration of supporting fluids; 21
and 22
(12) Place special peripheral and central venous and arterial 23
lines for blood sampling and monitoring as appropriate. 24
(d)(1) The supervising anesthesiologist shall delegate only tasks and 25
procedures to the anesthesiologist assistant that are within the supervising 26
anesthesiologist’s scope of practice. 27
(2) The anesthesiologist assistant may work in any setting that 28
is within the scope of practice of the supervising anesthesiologist’s 29
practice. 30
(e) Continuity of supervision in practice settings requires the 31
anesthesiologist assistant to document in the anesthesia record any change in 32
supervising anesthesiologist. 33
(f) The tasks and procedures performed by the anesthesiologist 34
assistant shall be documented in the appropriate medical record. 35
36