Physician assistants in Alaska may soon have greater autonomy to provide healthcare services after the passage of Senate Bill 89, which has been referred to as the Physician Assistant Scope of Practice Modernization Bill. This new legislation seeks to bring Alaska into greater alignment with Oregon, Washington, and other states that have loosened physician supervision requirements for physician assistants in recent years.

At present, physician assistants in Alaska can operate only under collaborative agreements with physicians, and only pursuant to the regulations promulgated by the Alaska state medical board. The current version of AS 08.64.107 grants the medical board vast discretion over how those regulations should look. Senate Bill 89, however, provides much more detail and direction for how the medical board should regulate physician assistants.

Senate Bill 89 discards the collaborative agreement requirement for physician assistants with more than 4,000 hours of postgraduate clinical experience, though the medical board may require additional practice hours when a physician assistant begins practice in a new specialty. The new legislation also reaffirms that physician assistants practicing in remote areas of Alaska may continue to practice even when their collaborating physicians are not physically present so long as they have “direct telephonic, electronic, or video access to the collaborating physician.” This provision applies only to physician assistants working in “remote areas,” though Alaska law does not define this term. Physician assistants in non-remote areas will still require in-person supervision until they reach 4,000 hours of clinical practice. Senate Bill 89 also prohibits Alaska healthcare providers from entering contracts with insurance companies if those contracts impose more burdensome requirements on physician assistants than those contained under Alaska law.

Senate Bill 89 passed in the House of Representatives 38-2 on Thursday May 7th before being approved by the Senate 18-2 the following day. Now it awaits approval by Governor Dunleavy. Despite the overwhelming support Senate Bill 89 received in the legislature, however, it has left some healthcare professionals concerned. These critics argue that allowing collaborative agreements based on virtual or telephonic access to a physician may be insufficient to ensure high-quality care. They also argue that doing away with the collaborative agreement requirement for physician assistants with over 4,000 practice hours may lead to misdiagnoses.

Assuming Governor Dunleavy signs Senate Bill 89, Alaska-based healthcare practices will have the opportunity to further expand to rural communities, as physician assistants may practice in those communities under the virtual supervision of a physician located in less-rural locations in the State. Combined with the $272 million grant Alaska received through the federal Rural Health Transportation Program, Senate Bill 89 should increase access to healthcare in rural Alaska and have a transformative effect on rural communities in the State. But Alaska-based healthcare practices should ensure that neither they nor their associated insurance providers are imposing more onerous requirements on physician assistants than those contained in Senate Bill 89.

This article summarizes aspects of the law and opinions that are solely those of the authors. This article does not constitute legal advice. For legal advice regarding your situation, you should contact an attorney.