Protocol · PA · Louisiana
Practice Protocol for Physician Assistants in Louisiana
Louisiana does not define a named protocol for Physician Assistants. Here is what the state does require and what a written protocol usually covers.
No independent-practice pathway exists for PAs in Louisiana; supervision must be continuous for as long as the PA practices (R.S. 37:1360.28). The only carve-out is life-threatening emergencies and man-made/natural disaster relief efforts (R.S. 37:1360.31), where a PA may act without physician authorization.
What a Physician Assistant protocol must contain in Louisiana
Louisiana requires a written protocol but gives it no statutory name. Governed by the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners and the Louisiana Board of Pharmacy. Each numbered item is a requirement the protocol must satisfy.
The Physician Assistant ("PA") shall practice at the direction of, and under the supervision of, the Physician, who shall register as a supervising physician with the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners, as required by La. R.S. 37:1360.21 et seq. The level and method of supervision shall be documented, reviewed annually, and shall reflect the acuity of patients seen and the complexity of procedures performed.
A supervising physician may serve as primary supervising physician for up to eight (8) Physician Assistants at one time, as provided under Louisiana law.
- The protocol also carries 1 scope, 1 education and 1 registration clauses, authored in the document itself.
Terms it has to carry
Ratio, proximity, chart review, meeting and prescribing terms the protocol has to carry, from Louisiana's supervision rules.
Proximity
Available remotely (no on-site requirement)
Supervision must be continuous but is not construed as requiring the physical presence of the supervising physician at the time and place services are rendered; physician and PA must be able to contact each other by telephone or other telecommunication (R.S. 37:1360.28(A)).
Supervision ratio
Up to 8 at a time
A supervising physician may be the primary supervising physician for up to 8 PAs at one time (R.S. 37:1360.29), raised from a prior cap of 4 by a later amendment (reported as Act 475).
Chart review
Not codified — left to the agreement
Meeting cadence
Annually
The level and method of supervision must be documented and reviewed at least annually and reflect patient-care acuity (R.S. 37:1360.28(B)); the written supervision agreement itself must also be updated annually and kept on file at the practice site, available to the board on request.
Prescriptive authority
Covered by the practice agreement · controlled substances permitted
Prescriptive authority is delegated within the general supervision agreement rather than requiring its own separate document.
Written agreement
Required
Practice ownership (corporate practice of medicine)
Licensee-only ownership required — Professional Corporation under La. R.S. 12:901 et seq. — Louisiana's Professional Corporation Law generally restricts shares in a medical PC to persons licensed to render that same professional service; Louisiana statute does not enumerate PAs as eligible independent owners of a physician-services PC.
A general inference from Louisiana's Professional Corporation Law, not a PA-specific holding.
Sources for the supervision rules (4)
- La. Rev. Stat. § 37:1360.28 — Supervision of Physician Assistantssecondary
- La. Rev. Stat. § 37:1360.29 — Supervising Physician Qualifications and Registrationsecondary
- La. Rev. Stat. § 37:1360.31 — Services Performed by Physician Assistantssecondary
- AAPA — Louisiana Enacts Improvements to PA Practice Laws (PA-to-physician ratio increase)secondary
About Louisiana's rules
Louisiana remains a reduced-practice state for NPs; no SAVE Act-style full-practice-authority reform has passed. LA Admin. Code tit. 46 § 7911.A.5 references an hours-based exemption from the CPA requirement for NPs, CNMs and CNSs, but secondary sources give conflicting hour figures (1,000 vs. 2,080); confirm the threshold and resulting scope with LSBN before relying on it.
Other clinicians in Louisiana: see the state overview.