Sec. 204.202. SCOPE OF PRACTICE

(a) The practice of a physician assistant includes providing medical services delegated by a supervising physician that are within the education, training, and experience of the physician assistant.

(b) Medical services provided by a physician assistant may include:

(1) obtaining patient histories and performing physical examinations;

(2) ordering or performing diagnostic and therapeutic procedures;

(3) formulating a working diagnosis;

(4) developing and implementing a treatment plan;

(5) monitoring the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions;

(6) assisting at surgery;

(7) offering counseling and education to meet patient needs;

(8) requesting, receiving, and signing for the receipt of pharmaceutical sample prescription medications and distributing the samples to patients in a specific practice setting in which the physician assistant is authorized to prescribe pharmaceutical medications and sign prescription drug orders as provided by Section 157.052, 157.053, 157.054, 157.0541, or 157.0542 or as otherwise authorized by physician assistant board rule;

(9) signing or completing a prescription as provided by Subchapter B, Chapter 157; and

(10) making appropriate referrals.

(c) The activities listed by Subsection (b) may be performed in any place authorized by a supervising physician, including a clinic, hospital, ambulatory surgical center, patient home, nursing home, or other institutional setting.

(d) A physician assistant's signature attesting to the provision of a service the physician assistant is legally authorized to provide satisfies any documentation requirement for that service established by a state agency.

(e) A physician assistant is the agent of the physician assistant's supervising physician for any medical services that are delegated by that physician and that:

(1) are within the physician assistant's scope of practice; and

(2) are delineated by protocols, practice guidelines, or practice directives established by the supervising physician.

Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 388, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999. Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 112, Sec. 3, eff. May 11, 2001; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 178, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2001; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1420, Sec. 14.054(a), eff. Sept. 1, 2001.