ORS 677.510: Physician associate collaboration with health care provider; collaboration agreement; pain management education.

(1) A physician associate shall engage in collaboration with the appropriate health care provider as indicated by the condition of the patient, the standard of care and the physician associate’s education, experience and competence. The degree of collaboration must be determined at the physician associate’s primary location of practice. The determination may include decisions made by a physician, podiatric physician or employer with whom the physician associate has entered into a collaboration agreement, or the group or hospital service and the credentialing and privileging systems of the physician associate’s primary location of practice. (2)(a) A physician associate may not practice medicine unless the physician associate has entered into a collaboration agreement signed by a physician, podiatric physician or employer. The collaboration agreement must include: (A) The physician associate’s name, license number and primary location of practice; (B) A general description of the physician associate’s process for collaboration with physicians or podiatric physicians; and (C) If the physician associate has fewer than 2,000 hours of post-graduate clinical experience, a plan for the minimum number of hours per month during which the physician associate will collaborate, both in person and through technology, with a specified physician or podiatric physician. (b) The physician associate, or physician, podiatric physician or employer with whom the physician associate has entered into the collaboration agreement, is responsible for tracking the hours described in paragraph (a) of this subsection. (3) The collaboration agreement must be kept on file at the physician associate’s primary location of practice and made available to the Oregon Medical Board upon request. (4) Performance assessments and reviews of a physician associate may be completed by the physician associate’s employer in accordance with a performance assessment and review process established by the employer. (5) A physician associate shall submit to the board every 36 months documentation of completion of: (a) A one-hour pain management education program approved by the board and developed based on recommendations of the Pain Management Commission; or (b) An equivalent pain management education program, as determined by the board. [1971 c.649 §7; 1981 c.220 §10; 1995 c.374 §1; 1997 c.695 §1; 1999 c.119 §2; 1999 c.430 §1; 1999 c.582 §4; 2001 c.743 §§1,2; 2001 c.987 §14a; 2005 c.366 §2; 2007 c.347 §2; 2009 c.595 §1054; 2010 c.43 §3; 2011 c.550 §3; 2012 c.34 §3; 2021 c.50 §6; 2021 c.349 §11a; 2023 c.314 §4; 2024 c.73 §134] Sec. 9. Notwithstanding the amendments to ORS 677.097, 677.495, 677.500, 677.510, 677.512, 677.515, 677.535 and 677.545 by sections 1 to 8, chapter 550, Oregon Laws 2011: (1) A physician associate practicing under a practice description approved by the Oregon Medical Board under ORS 677.510 as in effect immediately before January 1, 2012, may continue to practice in accordance with the practice description and is not required to enter into a practice agreement under ORS 677.510. (2) A physician associate licensed under ORS 677.512 as in effect immediately before January 1, 2012, may renew the physician associate’s license without meeting the requirements of ORS 677.512 (2)(c) and (d). [2011 c.550 §9; 2024 c.73 §170]