Great News for Ohio Physician Assistants! On December 19, 2018, SB259 was signed into law by the Ohio Governor, and will become effective in 90 days. This law, known as the PA Bill, rescinds the Ohio PA Formulary and changes PA supervision requirements. The formulary is a list of drugs and procedures that PAs in Ohio are able to perform. Without the formulary, PAs licensed and working in Ohio have a much greater scope of practice, as their practice will no longer be limited by the formulary. The Ohio Physician Assistant laws are not the same as the Physician Assistant laws in other states.The whole concept of there being a formulary is very antiquated and Ohio is one of the few states that still had a formulary to begin with. Many associations and individuals have been working on getting the formulary rescinded for a very long time. This law rescinding the formulary is a big victory for them and for the PAs and patients of Ohio. The major changes as a result of this new law include the below, effective March 19, 2019:
- PAs can prescribe and administer some items that formerly they could not because they were not listed on the formulary. One such drug is deoxycholic acid or Kybella, popular in aesthetics practices. This drug is used to remove unwanted pockets of fan in the chin (on-label) and other off label areas such as bra fat, stomach and arms. Previously, even if an MD would prescribe this drug to a patient, a PA could not administer it. Now from March 19, 2019, PAs can both prescribe and administer it.
- Each physician can supervise up to 5 PAs at the same time in Ohio. This was previously 3.
- Out of state PAs and military PAs that do not have a Master’s Degree can get a license in Ohio with 2 years of practice immediately preceding application.
- PAs that have a Master’s Degree but didn’t apply for prescriptive authority when the law changed a few years ago can now get prescriptive authority.