HLT-33-13-00014-P Physician Assistants and Specialist Assistants

8/14/13 N.Y. St. Reg. HLT-33-13-00014-P

NEW YORK STATE REGISTER

VOLUME XXXV, ISSUE 33

August 14, 2013

RULE MAKING ACTIVITIES

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

PROPOSED RULE MAKING

NO HEARING(S) SCHEDULED

 

I.D No. HLT-33-13-00014-P

Physician Assistants and Specialist Assistants

PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE State Administrative Procedure Act, NOTICE is hereby given of the following proposed rule:

Proposed Action:

This is a consensus rule making to amend section 94.2 of Title 10 NYCRR.

Statutory authority:

Public Health Law, section 3701

Subject:

Physician Assistants and Specialist Assistants.

Purpose:

Change restriction of the number of physician assistants under the supervision of a physician in a private practice from 2 to 4.

Text of proposed rule:

Pursuant to the authority vested in the Commissioner of Health by section 3701 of the public health law, and in accordance with Subdivision 3 of section 6542 of the education law, paragraph (c) of section 94.2 of Title 10 of the Official Compilation of Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York is amended, to be effective immediately, to read as follows:

“(c) No physician may employ or supervise more than [two] four registered physician[’s] assistants and two specialist[’s] assistants in his or her private practice.”

Text of proposed rule and any required statements and analyses may be obtained from:

Katherine Ceroalo, DOH, Bureau of House Counsel, Reg. Affairs Unit, Room 2438, ESP Tower Building, Albany, NY 12237, [phone], email: [e-mail]

Data, views or arguments may be submitted to:

Same as above.

Public comment will be received until:

45 days after publication of this notice.

This rule was not under consideration at the time this agency submitted its Regulatory Agenda for publication in the Register.

Consensus Rule Making Determination

Statutory Authority:

The authority to promulgate this regulation can be found in Section 3701 of the Public Health Law (PHL). Section 3701 of the PHL grants the Commissioner of Health the authority to promulgate regulations defining and restricting the duties which may be assigned to physician assistants by their supervising physician and the degree of supervision required.

Basis:

The proposed amendment will bring Section 94.2 of Title 10 into accord with Part T of Chapter 57 of the Laws of 2013, which increased the number of physician assistants that a physician in private practice may employ or supervise from two to four. Chapter 57 of the Laws of 2013 amended Education Law § 6542(3) by striking the word “two” and inserting the word “four”. This amendment became effective on March 29, 2013. The current regulation, stating no physician in private practice may employ or supervise more than two physician assistants, is found at 10 NYCRR § 94.2(c), and must be amended to allow such physicians to employ or supervise up to four physician assistants.

The State Administrative Procedure Act (SAPA) defines a consensus rule as “a rule proposed by an agency for adoption on an expedited basis pursuant to the expectation that no person is likely to object to its adoption because it merely … implements or conforms to non-discretionary statutory provisions ….” SAPA § 102(11). A consensus rule is appropriate in this instance because the amendment simply conforms 10 NYCRR § 94.2(c) to the statutory provisions of Education Law § 6542(3) as amended by Chapter 57 of the Laws of 2013. For this reason it is unlikely that any person will object to this amendment.

Job Impact Statement

No Job Impact Statement is required pursuant to section 201a(2)(a) of the State Administrative Procedure Act. It is apparent, from the nature of the proposed amendment, that it will not have a substantial adverse impact on jobs and employment opportunities. This rule simply raises the limit, from 2 to 4, that applies to physicians in private practice in the supervision of physician assistants. This rule may in fact have a positive impact on jobs by virtue of allowing physicians to hire additional physician assistants if they so choose.