Podiatric supervision of a physician assistant -- Requirements -- Restrictions -- Duties

Restrictions -- Duties. (1) A podiatrist shall not supervise a physician assistant without approval of the board and the State Board of Podiatry. Failure to obtain approval as a supervising podiatrist or failure to comply with the requirements of KRS 311.840 to 311.862 or related administrative regulations shall be considered unprofessional conduct and may result in revocation, suspension, restriction, or placing on probation the supervising podiatrist's right to supervise a physician assistant. (2) To be approved by the board as a supervising podiatrist, a podiatrist shall: (a) Be currently licensed and in good standing with the State Board of Podiatry; (b) Maintain a practice primarily within this Commonwealth; and (c) Submit a completed application and the required fee to the board. The application shall include but is not limited to: 1. A description of the nature of the podiatrist's practice; 2. A statement of assurance by the supervising podiatrist that the scope of medical services and procedures described in the application or in any supplemental information shall not exceed the normal scope of practice of the supervising podiatrist; 3. A description of the means by which the podiatrist shall maintain communication with the physician assistant when they are not in the same physical location; 4. A description of the scope of podiatric services and procedures to be performed by the physician assistant for which the physician assistant has been trained in an approved program; and 5. An outline of the specific parameters for review of countersignatures. (3) Prior to a physician assistant performing any service or procedure beyond those described in the initial application submitted to the board under subsection (2)(c) of this section, the supervising podiatrist shall supplement that application with information that includes but is not limited to: (a) A description of the additional podiatric service or procedure; (b) A description of the physician assistant's education, training, experience, and institutional credentialing; (c) A description of the level of podiatric supervision to be provided for the additional podiatric service or procedure; (d) The location or locations where the additional podiatric service or procedure will be provided; and (e) Any changes to the specific parameters for review of countersignatures. The initial and supplemental applications required under this section may be submitted to the board at the same time. (4) A podiatrist may enter into podiatric supervision agreements with no more than four (4) physician assistants and shall not supervise more than four (4) physician assistants at any one (1) time. Application for board approval to be a supervising  podiatrist shall be obtained individually for each physician assistant. (5) The board may impose restrictions on the scope of practice of a physician assistant or on the methods of podiatric supervision upon consideration of recommendations of the Physician Assistant Advisory Committee established in KRS 311.842 after providing the applicant with reasonable notice of its intended action and after providing a reasonable opportunity to be heard. (6) A supervising podiatrist shall be responsible for all duties of a supervising physician as required under KRS 311.856 as those duties relate to the practice of podiatry and podiatric supervision.