Bill describes when physicians may delegate surgical procedures

A qualified licensed professional may delegate selected work to a qualified licensed or unlicensed person under supervision. A qualified licensee includes a person licensed in a health profession and, in specified cases, a physician assistant with a subfield license. The work must fall within the professional's scope and be supervised. The professional may not delegate work that requires the education, skill, and judgment their profession requires.

Physicians may delegate certain procedures using surgical tools to specified unlicensed people. The listed people include approved medical and physician assistant students, people performing acupuncture, and people removing specified tissue from a deceased person. Medical and osteopathic medical students, and physician assistant students, must be in the specified approved schools or training program; the physician must directly supervise them and be physically present. The acupuncture exception ends 36 months after the effective date of rules licensing acupuncturists. Tissue removal must be only from a deceased person and for transplantation, implantation, infusion, injection, or another medical or scientific purpose. The acupuncture exception ends 36 months after the effective date of the rules licensing acupuncturists.

Physicians may delegate certain procedures using surgical tools to qualified surgical technologists and surgical first assistants. This applies to surgical technologists and surgical first assistants working for or under contract with a health facility or agency. A licensed physician must directly supervise the procedure and be physically present. The facility or agency must specifically authorize the delegation, and neither its board nor the facility or agency may prohibit or restrict it. The workers must meet qualifications set by the facility or agency where they work or contract. The provision does not require new or additional third-party reimbursement or workers' compensation benefits for these services.