Protocol · PA · Minnesota
Practice Protocol for Physician Assistants in Minnesota
Required. Minnesota law names the instrument a Written Practice Agreement, and the clinical protocol is the content that instrument carries. Below: the board that governs it, what it must contain, and the terms it has to carry.
Pending 2025 bills H.F. 89/S.F. 1083 would loosen this (e.g. allowing collaboration with any U.S.-licensed physician, not just MN-licensed) — introduced, not confirmed enacted; verify current status before relying on this threshold as final.
Independent practice requires: ≥2,080 hours of practice within the context of a collaborative agreement, in a hospital or integrated clinical setting where PAs and physicians work together (§ 147A.02(c)).
What a Minnesota Written Practice Agreement must contain
Governed by the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice and the Minnesota Board of Pharmacy. Each numbered item is a statutory requirement the Written Practice Agreement must satisfy.
The Physician Assistant ("PA") shall practice pursuant to a written practice agreement reviewed annually by a physician within the same clinic, hospital, or health system who has knowledge of the Physician Assistant's practice, as required by Minn. Stat. § 147A.09. The Physician Assistant may prescribe, including controlled substances, under the Physician Assistant's own qualifications rather than delegated authority from the Physician.
Source: Minn. Stat. § 147A.09
Minnesota law does not fix a numerical limit on the number of Physician Assistants with whom a physician may enter into a practice agreement, and does not require the reviewing physician to be physically on-site. The practice agreement is not filed with, or pre-approved by, the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice; a document confirming the annual review occurred must be kept at the practice level and made available to the Board upon request.
Source: Minn. Stat. § 147A.09
- The Written Practice Agreement also carries 1 scope, 1 education and 1 registration clauses, authored in the document itself.
Statutes and rules these clauses cite
- Minn. Stat. § 147A.09statute
Physician assistant practice-agreement requirement and annual review by a physician with knowledge of the PA's practice.
Terms it has to carry
Ratio, proximity, chart review, meeting and prescribing terms the Written Practice Agreement has to carry, from Minnesota's supervision rules.
Proximity
Available remotely (no on-site requirement)
The collaborating physician need not be physically present so long as physician and PA can be easily in contact by radio, telephone, or other telecommunication device. No mile/minute radius is codified.
Supervision ratio
Not codified — no cap on file
Chart review
Not codified — left to the agreement
Meeting cadence
Not codified — left to the agreement
Prescriptive authority
Separate prescribing terms required · controlled substances permitted
§ 147A.09, subd. 2(10) authorizes prescribing/administering/dispensing controlled substances under an established practice agreement; no schedule-specific restriction (e.g. a Schedule II day-supply cap) was found in the sections reviewed. Subd. 4 separately requires physician collaboration specifically for spinal-injection/pain-management procedures, narrower than the general practice agreement.
Written agreement
Required
Practice ownership (corporate practice of medicine)
Licensee-only ownership required — Professional firm under Minn. Stat. ch. 319B (Professional Firms Act) — PAs are an explicitly eligible owner category (§ 319B.02, subd. 19, citing §§ 147A.01-147A.27). Esthetics/cosmetology is not among the listed eligible categories.
Whether Chapter 319B lets a firm combine multiple listed professions (for example PA and physician) as co-owners is not clearly addressed.
Sources for the supervision rules (4)
- Minn. Stat. § 147A.02 — Licensure requirements (2,080-hour collaborative threshold)
- Minn. Stat. § 147A.09 — Physician assistant scope, prescriptive authority
- Minn. Stat. § 319B.02 — Professional Firms Act, eligible owner categories
- AAPA — Minnesota law removing supervision/delegation references (2020)secondary
About Minnesota's rules
H.F. 1794 repealed the NP/CNS 2,080-hour postgraduate collaborative-agreement rule (Minn. Stat. § 148.211, subd. 1c) effective August 1, 2026 — already in force. PA remains CONDITIONAL under a separate, still-active 2,080-hour rule (§ 147A.02(c)); 2025 reform bills (H.F. 89/S.F. 1083) to loosen it are pending, not confirmed enacted.
Other clinicians in Minnesota: see the state overview.