Protocol · PA · Nevada
Practice Protocol for Physician Assistants in Nevada
Required. Nevada law names the instrument a Written Supervisory 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.
No independent-practice pathway exists for PAs in Nevada — an active supervising-physician relationship is required for as long as the PA practices (NRS Ch. 630/633).
What a Nevada Written Supervisory Agreement must contain
Governed by the Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners and the Nevada State Board of Pharmacy. Each numbered item is a statutory requirement the Written Supervisory Agreement must satisfy.
The Physician Assistant ("PA") shall practice pursuant to a written supervisory agreement with the Physician, specifying the Physician Assistant's scope of practice, procedures, and prescriptive authority, limited to the schedules of drugs the Physician may prescribe, as required by NRS 630.271. The agreement shall be maintained and made available to the Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners upon request.
Source: NRS 630.271
A physician may not simultaneously supervise more than three (3) Physician Assistants, collaborate with more than three (3) Nurse Practitioners, or supervise and collaborate with a combined total of more than three (3) Physician Assistants and Nurse Practitioners, absent a Board-approved exception, as provided under NAC 630.495. The Physician shall notify the Board before supervision of the Physician Assistant begins, using the Board's Supervising Physician Notification form, and shall give the Board immediate written notice upon termination of the supervisory relationship.
Source: NAC 630.495
- The Written Supervisory Agreement also carries 1 scope, 1 education and 1 registration clauses, authored in the document itself.
Statutes and rules these clauses cite
- NRS 630.271statute
Requires a written supervisory agreement between a Physician Assistant and a supervising physician.
- NAC 630.495regulation
Limits simultaneous supervision of Physician Assistants and collaboration with Advanced Practice Registered Nurses to a combined total of three, absent Board approval.
Terms it has to carry
Ratio, proximity, chart review, meeting and prescribing terms the Written Supervisory Agreement has to carry, from Nevada's supervision rules.
Proximity
Available remotely (no on-site requirement)
NAC 630.26865 addresses the 'manner of supervision'; secondary sources describe Nevada as allowing in-person, electronic, or telephonic supervision rather than mandating on-site presence — this project could not confirm the rule's exact current text, so verify before relying on it for a compliance decision.
Supervision ratio
Up to 3 at a time (combined across provider types)
A physician may not simultaneously supervise more than 3 PAs, collaborate with more than 3 APRNs, or supervise/collaborate with a combination of more than 3 PAs and APRNs together (NAC 630.495) — this is a genuinely combined cap across both provider types, not two independent caps. The Board may grant an exception on petition showing special circumstances.
Chart review
Percentage set by agreement
Supervising physician must 'review and initial selected charts' of the PA's patients — a review obligation exists, but no percentage or fixed frequency is codified (NAC Ch. 630). Treat this as 'percentage and cadence set by practice/rule, not a fixed number' rather than 0%.
Meeting cadence
Not codified — left to the agreement
Prescriptive authority
Separate prescribing terms required · controlled substances permitted
Requires a separate Board registration certificate (NRS 639.1373) and passage of a Board examination on pharmacy law before possessing, administering, prescribing or dispensing controlled substances; the Board sets maximum amounts and storage, security and recordkeeping rules by regulation. Nevada sets no schedule-specific day-supply cap.
Written agreement
Required
Practice ownership (corporate practice of medicine)
Licensee-only ownership required — Nevada actively enforces corporate practice of medicine — professional entities under NRS 89.070 must be owned only by individuals licensed to provide the service offered. PAs are not enumerated among the professionals Nevada secondary sources describe as eligible independent owners (contrast NPs, below) — a PA-owned clinical entity is likely not viable without physician ownership, though this wasn't confirmed against a PA-specific statutory holding.
Sources for the supervision rules (4)
- Nev. Admin. Code § 630.495 — Restrictions on Simultaneous Supervision of Physician Assistants and Collaboration with APRNssecondary
- Nev. Rev. Stat. § 639.1373 — Physician Assistant Authority Regarding Controlled Substances, Poisons, Dangerous Drugs and Devicessecondary
- Nev. Rev. Stat. § 630.271 — Authorized Servicessecondary
- Nev. Rev. Stat. § 89.070 — Professional Entities; Ownership Restricted to Licensees
About Nevada's rules
Nevada has an active corporate-practice-of-medicine doctrine (NRS 89.070) limiting professional-entity ownership to the licensed profession rendering the service — a full-practice-authority NP may independently own a med-spa-type entity, but PAs are not enumerated as eligible owners. NPs/CNMs/CNSs share a 2,000-hour APRN practice-authority threshold (NRS 632.237); CRNAs are separately and explicitly supervised (NRS 632.2397).
Other clinicians in Nevada: see the state overview.