SCOPE OF PRACTICE

(a) The practice of a physician assistant includes providing medical services delegated by a supervising physician that are within the education, training, and experience of the physician assistant. (b) Medical services provided by a physician assistant may include: (1) obtaining patient histories and performing physical examinations; (2) ordering or performing diagnostic and therapeutic procedures; (3) formulating a working diagnosis; (4) developing and implementing a treatment plan; (5) monitoring the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions; (6) assisting at surgery; (7) offering counseling and education to meet patient needs; (8) requesting, receiving, and signing for the receipt of pharmaceutical sample prescription medications and distributing the samples to patients in a specific practice setting in which the physician assistant is authorized to prescribe pharmaceutical medications and sign prescription drug orders as provided by Section 157.0512 or 157.054; (9) prescribing or ordering a drug or device as provided by Subchapter B, Chapter 157; and (10) making appropriate referrals. (c) The activities listed by Subsection (b) may be performed in any place authorized by a supervising physician, including a clinic, hospital, ambulatory surgical center, patient home, nursing home, or other institutional setting. (d) A physician assistant's signature attesting to the provision of a service the physician assistant is legally authorized to provide satisfies any documentation requirement for that service established by a state agency. (e) A physician assistant is the agent of the physician assistant's supervising physician for any medical services that are delegated by that physician and that: (1) are within the physician assistant's scope of practice; and (2) are delineated by protocols, practice guidelines, or practice directives established by the supervising physician.