(a) A physician who delegates medical acts to a physician assistant is responsible for the physician assistant’s medical acts and must provide adequate supervision. Adequate supervision will depend on the nature of the practice setting and the experience of the physician assistant. It is the obligation of each team of physician(s) and physician assistant(s) to ensure that the physician assistant’s scope of practice is identified, that delegation of medical tasks is appropriate to the physician assistant’s level of competence, that the relationship of, and access to, the supervising physician is defined, and that a process for evaluation of the physician assistant’s performance is established.

(b) Each physician-physician assistant team, hospital, clinic, medical group, or other healthcare facility shall be responsible for creating a written agreement, which shall be kept on file at the primary location where the physician assistant provides care, describing the information required by subsection (a) of this section. The written agreement shall be made available to the Board or the Council upon request.

(c) A supervising physician may not delegate a medical act to a physician assistant who, by statute or professional regulation, is prohibited from performing the act.

(d) A supervising physician may not be involved in patient care in name only.

(e) A supervising physician may not delegate medical acts to a physician assistant that exceed the physician’s scope of practice.

(f) A supervising physician may not at any given time supervise more than 4 physician assistants, unless a regulation of the Board increases or decreases the number.

(g) A physician who supervises a physician assistant in violation of the provisions of this subchapter or of regulations adopted pursuant to this subchapter is subject to disciplinary action by the Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline for permitting the unauthorized practice of medicine.

(h) Hospitals, clinics, medical groups and other healthcare facilities may employ physician assistants; however, no more than 4 physician assistants may at any given time be employed and supervised for each physician practicing in the same facility unless a regulation of the Board increases or decreases the number.

(i) If the supervising physician delegates the authority to a physician assistant to treat patients in a setting where the supervising physician is not routinely present the physician must assure that the means and methods of supervision are adequate to assure appropriate patient care. This may include telecommunication, chart review, or other methods of communication and oversight that are appropriate to the care setting and the education and experience of the physician assistant. The supervision plan must be detailed in the practice agreement and made available to the Board or Council upon request. Failure to have a supervision plan or failure to provide quality patient care due to lack of adequate supervision constitutes grounds for discipline.

75 Del. Laws, c. 141, § 1; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § 1; 77 Del. Laws, c. 319, § 1; 78 Del. Laws, c. 387, § 2.