New Hampshire is the latest state to consider nixing collaborative agreements for physician assistants, the New Hampshire Bulletin reported April 15.
The bill has passed in the state House and is heading to the Senate. It was written in response to complaints that physician assistants were being charged $1,000 a month for a document they argued did not change how they practice and that they have lost jobs when new physicians arrive at their practice and refuse to sign agreements, the report said.
The bill to require collaborative agreements only for physician assistants with fewer than 8,000 hours of clinical practice whose office or system does not include at least one physician doing similar work. Physician assistants would still be required to consult with their practices' team on whether to implement a collaborative agreement.
The New Hampshire Medical Society, meanwhile, argued that dropping agreements would endanger patients.
"We do not allow medical students to practice medicine right out of medical school, instead they have to train in a residency program for three to five years under strict supervision of attending physicians and then have to take a board exam in their respected specialty," Maria Boylan, DO, president of the society, told the Bulletin. "This proposed legislation sets a much lower, unsafe bar for the independent practice of PAs than is set for physicians."