Wiki PAs

[NEOSM507]

Can someone please guide me to the rules and regulations for whether or not a PA can treat patients when they are in a practice setting, but not under the direct supervision of a physician (physician not physically on site). In other words, if they are not practicing "incident to", can they treat? Thank you

 

[mitchellde]

It cannot be incident to if the provider is not within the office suite area at the time of service. You will need to have them credentialed and then bill under their own NPI number.

 

[NEOSM507]

Thank you. I guess my question is better asked this way- Are PAs able to diagnose and treat new and established patients when not supervised by a physician?

 

[mitchellde]

This may be dependent on your state licensure laws but generally speaking yes they can as long as they are credentialed with the payer and the service is billed under their own NPI number. Not all payers will credential the PA however and for those payers the incident to provision would need to kick in and they will be providing services as follow up to the physician encounters.

 

[thomas7331]

PA supervision requirements are set by state law and vary from state to state. In my state (CT) PAs can practice without their supervising physician on site, but the supervising physician must maintain oversight of the PA, have a written delegation agreement, and be available for communication by phone if needed. Your state's health department or licensing board web site should have this information readily available for you. I don't know of any that allow PAs to practice independently without some degree of supervision.