Many states temporarily waived or relaxed scope of practice rules for physician assistants during the pandemic to expand access to care. Now, PAs are pushing for those changes to become permanent, Medscape reported Sept. 9.
Some states increased the amount of PAs that one physician could supervise, for example, while others allowed PAs to practice remotely without a physician present. A timeline for when states may revoke these flexibilities is still unclear.
Many PAs say the increased autonomy has increased their job satisfaction and are calling for states to consider maintaining current scope of practice policies. Ninety-one percent of PAs said the expansion of their practice should be permanent, a recent Medscape survey found.
In contrast, many physicians and medical groups — including the American Medical Association — have opposed permanent scope of practice expansions for PAs, saying the move was necessary to respond to the COVID-19 crisis but could jeopardize patient safety if kept permanently.
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