Authority of Physician Assistants Under Current NYS Law

As a result of legislation signed by Governor Cuomo in 2019 that took effect June 17, 2020, a physician assistant can exercise substantially the same authority as an attending nurse practitioner under current NYS law. Physician assistants have the authority to determine patient incapacity and to write do-not-resuscitate (DNR) and other orders to withhold and/or withdraw life-sustaining treatment in accordance to public health law.

This law does not amend the Surrogate Court Procedures Act (SCPA) 1750-b, which relates to individuals with developmental disabilities.

Physician Assistants and Capacity Determination

The following table clarifies New York State Public Health law and the physician assistant’s authority to do capacity and concurrent capacity determination. This table is accurate as of June 17, 2020.

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Physician Assistants and MOLST Process Beyond Signing MOLST Orders

The 8-Step MOLST Protocol was developed in 2005 to help physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and others who are engaged in end-of-life discussions develop a systematic approach to end-of-life discussions that worked for physicians prior to MOLST. Having a standardized approach to thoughtful MOLST discussions can help ensure best practices in shared medical decision-making. ECHO MOLST: Honoring Patient Preferences at End-of-Life provides valuable education to fulfill the demand for professional training and assistance on advance care planning, MOLST, and eMOLST admist the recent public health law changes.

The following table clarifies New York State Public Health law and the physician assistant’s authority to participate in the MOLST process and sign MOLST orders. This table is accurate as of June 17, 2020.

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