SLS 18RS-1769 ENGROSSED
2018 Regular Session
SENATE BILL NO. 528
BY SENATOR LAFLEUR
HEALTH SERVICES. Provides relative to physician assistants. (8/1/18)
1 AN ACT
2 To amend and reenact R.S. 37:1360.23(G) and 1360.31(C)(2), relative to physician
3 assistants; to provide for supervising physician capacity; to provide for prescriptive
4 authority eligibility; to provide for clinical hour requirements; to prohibit certain
5 actions by the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners; and to provide for
6 related matters.
7 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
8 Section 1. R.S. 37:1360.23(G) and 1360.31(C)(2) are hereby amended and reenacted
9 to read as follows:
10 §1360.23. Powers and duties of the board
11 * * *
12 G. A physician, approved by the board as a supervising physician, practicing
13 in a private practice, group practice, partnership, professional medical corporation,
14 or employed by a hospital or other health care organization or entity may be the
15 primary supervising physician for up to four eight physician assistants. Physician
16 assistants may be employed by a group practice or partnership of physicians or a
17 professional medical corporation duly qualified under R.S. 12:901 et seq., as
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Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;
words in boldface type and underscored are additions. SB NO. 528
SLS 18RS-1769 ENGROSSED
1 amended, or a hospital or other health care organization or entity, as long as such
2 physician assistants are being supervised by a qualified supervising physician.
3 * * *
4 §1360.31. Services performed by physician assistants
5 * * *
6 C.(1) * * *
7 (2)(a) A graduate physician assistant shall have at least five hundred clinical
8 hours of training prior to application for prescriptive authority. A physician
9 assistant shall meet all of the following qualifications to be eligible to apply for
10 prescriptive authority:
11 (i) Have completed a minimum of five hundred clinical training hours
12 prior to graduation from an approved physician assistant educational program.
13 (ii) Hold an active unrestricted license issued by the Louisiana State
14 Board of Medical Examiners.
15 (iii) Be authorized to prescribe as delegated by the supervising physician.
16 (iv) Apply for a controlled dangerous substance license from the
17 Louisiana Board of Pharmacy and register with the United States Drug
18 Enforcement Agency, if delegated authority to prescribe schedule II, III, IV, or
19 V drugs by the supervising physician.
20 (b) The board shall not impose any qualifications for a physician
21 assistant's prescriptive authority, in addition to those set forth in this
22 Paragraph, through administrative rulemaking.
23 * * *
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Christine Arbo Peck.
DIGEST
SB 528 Engrossed 2018 Regular Session LaFleur
Present law provides that a supervising physician may supervise up to four physician
assistants.
Proposed law increases the number of physician assistants a primary supervising physician
can supervise from four to eight.
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Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;
words in boldface type and underscored are additions. SB NO. 528
SLS 18RS-1769 ENGROSSED
Present law provides that a graduate physician assistant must have 500 clinical hours of
training prior to application for prescriptive authority.
Proposed law provides that to be eligible to apply for prescriptive authority the physician
assistant shall have 500 clinical training hours prior to graduation from an approved
physician assistant education program, hold an active unrestricted license from LSBME, be
authorized to prescribe by a supervising physician, and apply for a controlled dangerous
substance license from the LSBP, if the physician assistant intends to control CDSs.
Proposed law prohibits LSBME from imposing additional prescription authority
qualifications through administrative rulemaking.
Effective August 1, 2018.
(Amends R.S. 37:1360.23(G) and 1360.31(C)(2))
Summary of Amendments Adopted by Senate
Committee Amendments Proposed by Senate Committee on Health and Welfare to
the original bill
1. Reduces provision setting a maximum of physician assistants a primary
supervising physician can supervise from 20 to eight.
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Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;
words in boldface type and underscored are additions.