Physician Assistant News and Legislative Updates
CA - California Physician Assistant News and Updates
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed HB 1069 authorizing the ordering or durable medical goods by physician assistants.
IA - California Physician Assistant News and Updates
Telemedicine which has also been called telehealth has now been expanded to include psychiatric are to mental health patients in Iowa.
NJ - New Jersey Physician Assistant News and Updates
A New Jersey appellate court refused to expand the scope of practice for physician assistants and permit physician assistants to perform EMG’s stating that the Legislature intended only licensed physicians to perform this function.
This decision reversed an earlier trial court ruling allowing physician assistants to perform this test. The Litigation Center of the American Medical Association, the Medical Society of New Jersey and the State Medical Societies filed a friend-of-the-court brief stating the lower court ruling was too broad of an interpretation and would expand the scope of practice to procedures the Legislature did not intend.
TX - Texas Physician Assistant News and Updates
The Texas Academy of physician Assistants is in the process of improving how the physician-PA team provides patient care. The academy is working with legislators in several areas, including permitting PA’s to authorize disabled parking permits, expanding laws to authorize PA’s to prescribe Schedule II drugs, supporting new and existing PA educational institutions with dedicated funds and permitting PA’s to become shareholders in physician associations as was recently passed in Michigan.
UT - Utah Physician Assistant News and Updates
The rules governing physician assistants were amended this month to improve the number of PA’s a physician may supervise.
The Utah Academy of Physician Assistants had been in contact with the Utah Department of Professional Licensing to advocate for an increase in the number of physician assistants a physician may supervise. The change in rules permits a physician to supervise up to four FTE PA’s. In addition a physician may request the board to add additional PA’s if the physician demonstrates that a need exists and that there will be adequate supervision.
More updates will be added as they become available.
Meet Ray Mooney ,PA-C: 
