Sec. 2. (a) A physician assistant:

(1) must engage in a dependent practice with a collaborating physician; and

(2) may not be independent from the collaborating physician, including any of the activities of other health care providers set forth under IC 25-22.5-1-2(a)(1) through IC 25-22.5-1-2(a)(19).

A physician assistant may perform, under a collaborative agreement, the duties and responsibilities that are delegated by the collaborating physician and that are within the collaborating physician's scope of practice, including prescribing and dispensing drugs and medical devices. A patient may elect to be seen, examined, and treated by the collaborating physician.

(b) If a physician assistant determines that a patient needs to be examined by a physician, the physician assistant shall immediately notify the collaborating physician or physician designee.

(c) If a physician assistant notifies the collaborating physician that the physician should examine a patient, the collaborating physician shall:

(1) schedule an examination of the patient unless the patient declines; or

(2) arrange for another physician to examine the patient.

(d) A collaborating physician or physician assistant who does not comply with subsections (b) and (c) is subject to discipline under IC 25-1-9.

(e) A physician assistant's collaborative agreement with a collaborating physician must:

(1) be in writing;

(2) include all the tasks delegated to the physician assistant by the collaborating physician;

(3) set forth the collaborative agreement for the physician assistant, including the emergency procedures that the physician assistant must follow; and

(4) specify the protocol the physician assistant shall follow in prescribing a drug.

(f) The physician shall submit the collaborative agreement to the board. The physician assistant may prescribe a drug under the collaborative agreement unless the board denies the collaborative agreement. Any amendment to the collaborative agreement must be resubmitted to the board, and the physician assistant may operate under any new prescriptive authority under the amended collaborative agreement unless the agreement has been denied by the board.

(g) A physician or a physician assistant who violates the collaborative agreement described in this section may be disciplined under IC 25-1-9.

As added by P.L.227-1993, SEC.11. Amended by P.L.90-2007, SEC.24; P.L.177-2009, SEC.55; P.L.197-2011, SEC.120; P.L.168-2016, SEC.8; P.L.247-2019, SEC.13.