Puget Sound Business Journal | Marcus R. Donner
Physician assistant Mark Aytch, at right, talks with patient Marvin Hoskings Jr. at Neighborcare Health's Ballard Homeless Clini, in Seattle.
A new state law that took effect this week in Washington allows more physician assistants to work with doctors.
The change could help mitigate the shortage of primary care providers that?s anticipated next year when the state expands Medicaid and other health reforms kick in.
Physician assistants are nationally certified and state-licensed to practice medicine. They can perform physical examinations, diagnose and treat illnesses, order lab tests and perform other tasks. In Washington and elsewhere, they've become more common.
Previously, Washington state limited the number of assistants that a physician could supervise to three, but the new law allows for five assistants per doctor. Physicians could also petition for a waiver to the limit.
The new law also no longer requires physicians to be on site for 10 percent of the time that a physician assistant is practicing medicine.
Nationally, health industry experts are concerned that offering health care coverage to millions of people who?ve gone without insurance could place a major burden on primary care providers. Physician assistants, nurses and nurse practitioners have been looked to as part of the solution to that problem.
These support personnel are expected to be most critical in rural areas and underserved urban areas.
The new bill requires the Medical Quality Assurance Commission and the Board of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery to work with the Washington Academy of Physician Assistants to update the rules governing these health professionals by the end of 2014.
Valerie Bauman covers health care, nonprofits and the marijuana industry for the Puget Sound Business Journal.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vertical_15/~3/67ZFNc7EoYw/more-physician-assistants-allowed-to.html
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