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.