Currently, South Dakota physician assistants (PAs) practice under the supervision of a physician. This supervising physician delegates the health care tasks that the PA may perform. The relationship is formalized using written practice agreement that lays out which treatments and services are authorized. Under HB 1071, PAs would initially practice in collaboration before qualifying for independence.

Initially, PAs would practice according to the written collaborative agreement. Like the practice agreements before, these would need to be in writing. However, in addition to collaborating with a physician, PAs could also collaborate with other PAs who have at least 4,000 hours of independent practice. Once a nationally certified PA files an attestation with the board that they have completed 2,080 hours of clinical experience in collaboration, they may practice without a collaboration agreement. This would allow the PA to practice independently, only needing to collaborate as needed with other members of a patient’s health care team.

The majority of states allow nurse practitioners to practice independently. More recently, many states have been giving more freedom and autonomy to PAs, ranging from reduce oversight requirements all the way to full independence. HB 1071 and SB 102 are squarely within this trend. If you would like additional information, to read the language of these bills or to contact the sponsors or committee, you can find the information you need through these links HB 1071 and SB 102.