§ 25.217. Delegation.
(a) An osteopathic physician may delegate to a health care practitioner or technician the performance of a medical service if the following conditions are met:
(1) The delegation is consistent with the standards of acceptable medical practice embraced by the osteopathic physician community in this Commonwealth. Standards of acceptable medical practice may be discerned from current peer reviewed medical literature and texts, teaching facility practices and instruction, the practice of expert practitioners in the field and the commonly accepted practice of practitioners in the field.
(2) The delegation is not prohibited by the statutes or regulations relating to the other health care practitioner.
(3) The osteopathic physician has knowledge that the delegatee has education, training, experience and continued competency to safely perform the medical service being delegated.
(4) The osteopathic physician has determined that the delegation to a health care practitioner or technician does not create an undue risk to the particular patient being treated.
(5) The nature of the service and the delegation of the service has been explained to the patient and the patient does not object to the performance by the health care practitioner or technician. Unless otherwise required by law the explanation may be oral and may be given by the osteopathic physician or the osteopathic physician’s designee.
(6) The osteopathic physician assumes the responsibility for the delegated medical service, including the performance of the service, and is available to the delegatee as appropriate to the difficulty of the procedure, the skill of the delegatee and risk to the particular patient.
(b) An osteopathic physician may not delegate the performance of a medical service if performance of the medical service or if recognition of the complications or risks associated with the delegated medical service requires knowledge and skill not ordinarily possessed by nonphysicians.
(c) An osteopathic physician may not delegate a medical service which the osteopathic physician is not trained, qualified and competent to perform.
(d) An osteopathic physician shall be responsible for the medical services delegated to the health care practitioner or technician.
(e) An osteopathic physician may approve a standing protocol delegating medical acts to another health care practitioner who encounters a medical emergency that requires medical services for stabilization until the osteopathic physician or emergency medical services personnel are available to attend to the patient.
(f) This section does not prohibit a health care practitioner who is licensed or certified by a Commonwealth agency from practicing within the scope of that license or certificate or as otherwise authorized by law. For example, this section is not intended to restrict the practice of certified registered nurse anesthetists, nurse midwives, certified registered nurse practitioners, physician assistants, or other individuals practicing under the authority of specific statutes or regulations.
Authority The provisions of this § 25.217 issued under sections 3 and 16 of the Osteopathic Medical Practice Act (63 P.S. § § 271.3 and 271.16).
Source The provisions of this § 25.217 adopted December 3, 2004, effective December 4, 2004, 34 Pa.B. 6414.
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