1. (a) Except as provided in RSA 328-D:15, III and RSA 328-D:16, II, a physician associate with fewer than 8,000 hours of post-graduate clinical practice hours who is practicing in a group, practice, or health system that does not have at least one licensed New Hampshire physician shall engage in practice as a physician associate in this state only if the physician associate has entered into a written collaboration agreement with a licensed physician who practices in a similar area of medicine.

2. (b) A collaboration agreement shall include all of the following:

   1. (1) Processes for collaboration and consultation with the appropriate physician and other health care professional as indicated based on the patient’s condition and the physician associate’s education, training, and experience, and the applicable standards of care;
   2. (2) An acknowledgment that the physician associate’s scope of practice shall be limited to medical care that is within the physician associate’s education, training, and experience as outlined in RSA 328-D:3-b, VII-XIII;
   3. (3) A statement that although collaboration occurs between the physician associate and physicians and other health care professionals, a physician shall be accessible for consultation in person, by telephone, or electronic means at all times when a physician associate is practicing; and
   4. (4) The signatures of the physician associate and the participating physician. No other signatures shall be required.
3. (c) The collaboration agreement shall be updated as necessary.
4. (d) In the event of the unanticipated unavailability of a participating physician practicing as a sole practitioner due to serious illness or death, a physician associate shall not practice for more than 30 days without entering into a new collaboration agreement with another participating physician.
5. (e) The collaboration agreement shall be kept on file at the practice and made available to the board upon request.

Source. #4745, eff 1-25-90; ss by #4902, eff 8-3-90, EXPIRED 1-25-96 New. #6472, eff 3-25-97, EXPIRED: 3-25-05 New. #8678, eff 7-11-06, EXPIRED: 7-11-14 New. #10926, INTERIM, eff 9-4-15; ss by #11049, eff 3-2-16; ss by #13249, eff 8-6-21; ss by #13803, eff 12-31-23 (formerly Med 602.03) (see Revision Note #2 at chapter heading for Med 600); ss by #14142, INTERIM, eff 12-5-24, EXPIRES: 6-3-25 (Remains in effect per RSA 541-A:14-a); ss by #14395, eff 10-2-25, EXPIRES: 10-2-35