Physician oversight for PA?

[Healthinfo104]

So I know PA's in most states need physician oversight to prescribe, but do they also need physician oversight to order labs, bloodwork and do exams and stuff?

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[DizzyJon]

PAs need a supervising/collaborating physician in all states. The term "oversight" is not the best term in regard to performing these tasks. State laws very, but in most states prescribing, ordering and interpreting labs, and doing exams are all basic components to practicing as a PA. In some states prescribing is listed separate and needs to be delegated to the PA. A PA does not require the physical presence of a physician to perform these basic duties of practice.

 

[pamac]

Oversight, collaboration, supervision...

It’s not as stifling in reality as it sounds. Essentially, PAs everywhere need to have a formalized relationship with a physician in order to practice, but the monitoring of PAs by physicians varies according to the laws of the state and the regulations and requirements of the respective states boards of medicine. And ultimately, the physician has the ultimate say in what actions PAs can take while functioning under their tutelage, (apart from being able to grant PAs more practice rights than already accorded by state regulation). So say your state would not care if you volunteered as medical personel at a fun run, but your supervising physician does... then you don’t get to volunteer. But say your physician wants to let you practice on your own at a satellite clinic, and the state says that you need to either have your supervising physician on site, or directly reachable by phone, then it doesn’t matter if the physician is fine with it... you don’t get to do it.

So with that in mind, your question regarding whether a PA can order tests on their own is moot.... or at best is a “yes and no” situation. Yes... they can prescribe most medications, diagnose, order lab tests, and treat. However, they do so under delegation of authority by physicians. It’s a career with a built in boss that decides on their own how much they need to watch you. They get sued too if you screw up.