Protocol · PA · Wyoming
Practice Protocol for Physician Assistants in Wyoming
Wyoming does not define a named protocol for Physician Assistants. Here is what the state does require and what a written protocol usually covers.
Wyoming has no experience/hours-based independent-practice pathway for PAs — a supervising-physician relationship approved by the Board of Medicine is required for the PA's entire career (W.S. 33-26-501 et seq.), though PAs 'exercise autonomy in medical decision making' within that relationship.
What a Physician Assistant protocol must contain in Wyoming
Wyoming requires a written protocol but gives it no statutory name. Governed by the Wyoming State Board of Medicine and the Wyoming State Board of Pharmacy. Each numbered item is a requirement the protocol must satisfy.
The Physician Assistant ("PA") shall assist in the practice of medicine under the supervision of the Physician, approved by the Wyoming State Board of Medicine, and may perform only those duties delegated by the Physician within the Physician's scope of practice and expertise and within the Physician Assistant's skills, as required by Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 33-26-501 et seq.
The Physician shall designate a back-up physician to ensure supervision of the Physician Assistant during the Physician's absence; a back-up physician is subject to the same requirements as the Physician while acting in that capacity. Wyoming law does not fix a numerical limit on the number of Physician Assistants one physician may supervise.
- 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 Wyoming's supervision rules.
Proximity
Available remotely (no on-site requirement)
'Supervision means the ready availability of the supervising physician for consultation and direction... [c]ontact with the supervising physician by telecommunications is sufficient to show ready availability, if the board finds that such contact is sufficient to provide quality medical care' (W.S. 33-26-501 et seq.) — no fixed mile/minute radius.
Supervision ratio
Up to 3 at a time
A physician is limited to supervising 3 or fewer PAs 'only for good cause specific to the circumstances of that individual physician' (W.S. 33-26-504) — i.e. 3 is a soft/Board-adjustable cap rather than an absolute ceiling, but it is the explicit statutory starting point.
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
Prescriptive scope is delegated by the supervising physician within the physician's own scope of practice and the PA's skills; requires a Wyoming Controlled Substance Registration. Wyoming sets no PA-specific schedule numeric limit.
Written agreement
Required
Practice ownership (corporate practice of medicine)
Licensee-only ownership required — Professional corporation under W.S. § 17-3-101 — capital stock must be owned EXCLUSIVELY by persons licensed in that same profession; Wyoming Board of Medicine rules additionally, administratively prohibit non-physician ownership of medical practices. Whether a PA can independently own a single-profession PA-only corporation (as opposed to a physician-owned medical practice) was not separately confirmed.
Sources for the supervision rules (4)
About Wyoming's rules
Wyoming is a full-independence state for ALL FOUR APRN roles (NP, CRNA, CNM, CNS) under the APRN Consensus Model — no supervision/collaboration agreement required. PAs are separate: permanent physician supervision under W.S. 33-26, capped at 3 PAs per physician absent Board-approved good cause (W.S. 33-26-504) — one of the few explicit numeric PA ratio caps on file.
Other clinicians in Wyoming: see the state overview.