Mississippi Administrative Code › Title 30 - Professions and Occupations › Part 2615 - Physician Assistants › Chapter 1 - The Practice of Physician Assistants › Rule 30-2615-1.6 - Supervision

Current through June 25, 2024
Supervision means overseeing activities of, and accepting
				  responsibility for, all medical services rendered by the physician assistant.
				  Except as described in the following paragraph, supervision must be continuous,
				  but shall not be construed as necessarily requiring the physical presence of
				  the supervising physician.
New graduate physician assistants and all physician
				  assistants whose Mississippi license is their initial license require the
				  on-site presence of a supervising physician for one hundred twenty (120) days
				  or its equivalent of 960 hours. If a physician assistant's clerkship was
				  completed with their supervising physician, the 120 days or 960 hours may be
				  reduced.
The physician assistant's practice shall be confined to the
				  primary office or clinic of the supervising physician, or any hospital(s),
				  clinic(s) or other health care facilities within 75 miles of where the primary
				  office is located, wherein the supervising physician holds medical staff
				  privileges or that otherwise serves as an extension of the physician and
				  physician assistant(s) practice. Exceptions to this requirement may be granted,
				  on an individual basis, provided the location(s) of practice are set forth in
				  the protocol.
Before any physician assistant shall practice in a location
				  greater than 75 miles, the physician assistant must present to the Board a duly
				  executed protocol and obtain approval to practice. Excluded from this
				  requirement are physician assistants who practice within a licensed hospital,
				  state health department facility, federally qualified community health clinic,
				  or volunteer clinic. Protocols will be forwarded to the Board's Physician
				  Assistant Advisory Committee for their review and recommendation prior to
				  disapproval. The facts and matters to be considered by the Committee when
				  reviewing a protocol or supervision arrangement shall include, but are not
				  limited to, how the supervising physician and physician assistant plan to
				  implement the protocol, the method and manner of supervision, consultation,
				  referral, compatibility of practice, and liability.
Physician Assistants practicing in primary care shall have no
				  mileage restrictions placed on the relationship between the supervisory
				  physician and the physician assistant if the following conditions are
				  met:
1. The protocol is between a
				primary care physician and a primary care physician assistant.
2. The physician is in a compatible practice
				(e.g., same specialty, treat the same patient population) with the physician
				assistant.
3. The physician and
				physician assistant utilize electronic medical records (EMR) in their practice,
				has direct access to the EMR utilized by the PA, and also utilize EMR in the
				formal quality improvement program.
4. The physician practices within the State
				of Mississippi for a minimum of twenty (20) hours per week or eighty (80) hours
				per month (does not include telemedicine).
The supervising physician must provide adequate means for
				  communication with the physician assistant. Communication may occur through the
				  use of technology which may include, but is not limited to: radio, telephone,
				  fax, modem, or other telecommunication device.
Each primary supervisory relationship shall include and
				  implement a formal quality improvement program which must be maintained on site
				  and must be available for inspection by representatives of the Mississippi
				  State Board of Medical Licensure. The quality assurance/quality improvement
				  program shall consist of:
A. Review by
				a supervisory physician of a random sample of charts that represent 10% or 20
				charts, whichever is less, of patients seen by the physician assistant every
				month. Charts should represent the variety of patient types seen by the
				physician assistant. Patients that the physician assistant and a supervising
				physician have consulted on during the month will count as one chart
				review.
B. The physician assistant
				shall maintain a log of charts reviewed which include the identifier for the
				patient's charts, reviewers' names, and dates of review.
C. Each physician assistant shall meet face
				to face, either in person or via video conferencing, with a supervisory
				physician once per quarter for the purpose of quality assurance, and this
				meeting must be documented.