Georgia Code
Article 4 - Physician Assistants
§ 43-34-103. Application for Licensure as a Physician Assistant; Authorized Delegated Authority; Prohibited Acts

The board may issue a temporary permit to any applicant for licensure who has satisfied the provisions of division (i) of this subparagraph and who is an applicant for the next available board approved or administered examination or who has completed this examination and is awaiting the results of such examination. The temporary permit shall expire upon notification of the applicant’s failure to achieve a satisfactory score on the board approved or administered examination. A physician assistant licensed pursuant to this paragraph shall not be authorized to perform any medical acts of any sort except as approved for utilization by a physician in a job description pursuant to paragraph (2) of this subsection. The board may grant an inactive licensure status to a physician assistant who is licensed pursuant to this article but who is not practicing with the supervision of a board approved primary supervising physician.
(e.1) (1) In addition to and without limiting the authority granted by Code Section 43-34-23, a physician may delegate to a physician assistant, in accordance with a job description, the authority to issue a prescription drug order or orders for any device as defined in Code Section 26-4-5 or to issue any dangerous drug as defined in Code Section 16-13-71 or any Schedule III, IV, or V controlled substance as defined in Code Section 16-13-21 on a prescription drug order or prescription device order form as specified in paragraph (3) of this subsection. Delegation of such authority shall be contained in the job description required by this Code section. The delegating physician shall remain responsible for the medical acts of the physician assistant performing such delegated acts and shall adequately supervise the physician assistant. If an existing job description for a physician assistant does not contain such authority to order a prescription drug or device order as provided by this subsection, that physician assistant may not issue any such prescription drug or device order until a new job description delegating such authority is submitted to and approved by the board. Nothing in this Code section shall be construed to authorize the written prescription drug order of a Schedule I or II controlled substance.
(e.2) A physician assistant may be delegated the authority to request, receive, and sign for professional samples and may distribute professional samples to patients so long as delegation of such authority is contained in a job description and the professional samples are within the specialty of the supervising physician. The office or facility at which the physician assistant is working must maintain a general list of professional samples approved by the supervising physician for request, receipt, and distribution by the physician assistant as well as a complete list of the specific number and dosage of each professional sample received. Professional samples that are distributed by a physician assistant shall be so noted in the patient’s medical record. In addition to the requirements of this Code section, all professional samples shall be maintained as required by applicable state and federal law and regulations. As used in this subsection, the term “professional samples” means complimentary doses of a drug, medication vouchers, or medical devices provided by the manufacturer for use in patient care.
(2) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to create a presumption of liability, either civil or criminal, on the part of a pharmacist who is duly licensed under Title 26 and who in good faith fills a prescription drug or device order presented by a patient pursuant to this subsection. The pharmacist shall presume that the prescription drug or device order was issued by a physician assistant duly licensed under this article who has qualified under this Code section to prescribe pharmaceutical agents. The pharmacist shall also presume that the pharmaceutical agent prescribed by the physician assistant is an approved pharmaceutical agent, unless the pharmacist has actual or constructive knowledge to the contrary.
(3) The physician assistant shall only be authorized to exercise the rights granted under this subsection using a prescription drug or device order form which includes the name, address, and telephone number of the prescribing supervising or alternate supervising physician, the patient’s name and address, the drug or device prescribed, the number of refills, and directions to the patient with regard to the taking and dosage of the drug. A prescription drug order which is transmitted either electronically or via facsimile shall conform to the requirements set out in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (c) of Code Section 26-4-80, respectively. Any form containing less information than that described in this paragraph shall not be offered to or accepted by any pharmacist who is duly licensed under Title 26.
(4) Nothing in this Code section shall be construed to authorize a physician assistant to authorize refills of any drug for more than 12 months from the date of the original prescription drug or device order.
(5) A supervising physician or alternate supervising physician shall evaluate or examine, at least every three months, any patient receiving controlled substances.
(6) In addition to the copy of the prescription drug or device order delivered to the patient, a record of such prescription shall be maintained in the patient’s medical record in the following manner:
(7) A physician assistant is not permitted to prescribe drugs or devices except as authorized in the physician assistant’s job description and in accordance with this article.
(8) The board shall adopt rules establishing procedures to evaluate an application for a job description containing the authority to order a prescription drug or device and any other rules the board deems necessary or appropriate to regulate the practice of physician assistants, to carry out the intent and purpose of this article, or to protect the public welfare.
(9) A physician assistant authorized by a primary supervising physician to order controlled substances pursuant to this Code section is authorized to register with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.
(10) A physician assistant delegated the authority by the primary supervising physician to issue a prescription drug or device order shall be required to complete a minimum of three hours of continuing education biennially in practice specific pharmaceuticals in which the physician assistant has prescriptive order privileges.
(11) A managed care system, health plan, hospital, insurance company, or other similar entity shall not require a physician to be a party to a job description as a condition for participation in or reimbursement from such entity.
History. Ga. L. 1972, p. 676, § 4; Ga. L. 1982, p. 1148, § 2; Ga. L. 1984, p. 22, § 43; Ga. L. 1984, p. 611, § 1; Ga. L. 1989, p. 261, § 4; Ga. L. 1995, p. 827, § 2; Ga. L. 1997, p. 935, § 3; Ga. L. 1999, p. 81, § 43; Ga. L. 2001, p. 788, § 1; Ga. L. 2002, p. 1043, § 2; Ga. L. 2004, p. 581, § 2; Ga. L. 2005, p. 1232, § 1/SB 173; Ga. L. 2006, p. 475, § 1/HB 873; Ga. L. 2006, p. 476, § 1/HB 832; Ga. L. 2009, p. 453, § 1-4/HB 228; Ga. L. 2009, p. 859, § 1/HB 509; Ga. L. 2010, p. 878, § 43/HB 1387; Ga. L. 2011, p. 441, § 3/HB 303; Ga. L. 2011, p. 705, § 5-26/HB 214; Ga. L. 2018, p. 243, § 1/SB 364; Ga. L. 2020, p. 650, § 2/SB 321; Ga. L. 2021, p. 922, § 43/HB 497.
The 2020 amendment, effective January 1, 2021, in paragraph (b)(1), substituted “enter into a job description with or supervise” for “have”, substituted “paragraphs (3) or (4)” for “paragraph (4)” and deleted “; provided, however, that no physician may supervise more than two physician assistants at any one time except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection”; deleted former paragraph (b)(2), which read: “(b)(2)(A) A physician may supervise as many as four physician assistants at any one time while practicing in a group practice in which other physician members of such group practice are primary supervising physicians.
“(B) A physician may supervise as many as four physician assistants at any one time while acting as an alternate supervising physician:
“(i) In an institutional setting such as a hospital or clinic;
“(ii) On call for a primary supervising physician or a group practice; or
“(iii) If otherwise approved by the board to act as an alternate supervising physician.”; redesignated former paragraphs (b)(3) and (b)(4) as present paragraphs (b)(2) and (b)(3), respectively; in paragraph (b)(2), in the first sentence, substituted “with which” for “licensed to” and inserted “has entered into a job description” and substituted “paragraphs (1) and (3)” for “paragraph (2)” in the last sentence; added “or supervise more than four physician assistants who have completed a board approved anesthesiologist assistant program at any one time” at the end of paragraph (b)(3); added paragraph (b)(4); in subsection (d), substituted “Nothing” for “A physician assistant is authorized to practice in those public or private places or facilities where the supervising physician or alternate supervising physician regularly sees patients, provided that nothing”; deleted former paragraph (e.1)(4), which read: “The physician assistant or office staff shall notify the patient that the patient has the right to see the physician prior to any prescription drug or device order being issued by the physician assistant.”; redesignated former paragraphs (e.1)(5) through (e.1)(12) as present paragraphs (e.1)(4) through (e.1)(11), respectively; and rewrote subparagraph (e.1)(6)(B), which read: “Except in facilities operated by the Department of Public Health, the supervising physician shall review the prescription drug or device order copy and medical record entry for prescription drug or device orders issued within the past 30 days by the physician assistant. Such review may be achieved with a sampling of no less than 50 percent of such prescription drug or device order copies and medical record entries.”
The 2021 amendment, effective May 10, 2021, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, substituted “paragraph (3) or (4)” for “paragraphs (3) or (4)” near the end of paragraph (b)(1).
Editor’s notes.
For application of this statute in 2021, see Executive Order 01.22.21.07.
A listing of Executive Orders issued in 2021 can be found at https://gov.georgia.gov/executive-action/executive-orders.
Law reviews.
For note on 1989 amendment to this Code section, see 6 Georgia. St. U. L. Rev. 304 (1989).
For note on 1995 amendments to this Code section and § 43-34-102 , see 12 Georgia. St. U. L. Rev. 301 (1995).
For article on the 2011 amendment of this Code section, see 28 Georgia St. U.L. Rev. 147 (2011).