Iowa Code Title IV. Public Health [Chs. 123-158] § 148C.4. Services performed by physician assistants

1. A physician assistant may provide any legal medical service for which the physician assistant has been prepared by the physician assistant's education, training, or experience and is competent to perform. For the purposes of this section, “legal medical service for which the physician assistant has been prepared by the physician assistant's education, training, or experience and is competent to perform” includes but is not limited to making a pronouncement of death for a patient whose death is anticipated if the death occurs in a licensed hospital, a licensed health care facility, a correctional institution listed in section 904.102, a Medicare-certified home health agency, or a Medicare-certified hospice program or facility.

2. Notwithstanding subsection 1, a physician assistant licensed pursuant to this chapter or authorized to practice in any other state or federal jurisdiction who voluntarily and gratuitously, and other than in the ordinary course of the physician assistant's employment or practice, responds to a need for medical care created by an emergency or a state or local disaster may render such care that the physician assistant is able to provide.

A physician assistant, who voluntarily and gratuitously, and other than in the ordinary course of the physician assistant's employment or practice, responds to a need for medical care created by an emergency or a state or local disaster shall not be subject to criminal liability by reason of having provided such care, and shall not be liable for civil damages for acts or omissions relating to such care unless the acts or omissions constitute recklessness.

3. The degree of collaboration between a physician assistant and the appropriate member of a health care team shall be determined at the practice level, and may involve decisions made by the medical group, hospital service, supervising physician, or employer of the physician assistant, or the credentialing and privileging system of a licensed health care facility. A physician assistant shall be responsible for the services performed by the physician assistant that are not performed under the supervision of a physician.