Medical assistants are certified and certified doctors and practice in health teams with doctors and other providers. They are formally trained to examine patients, diagnose injuries and illnesses and offer treatments. The professional association for medical assistants is the American Academy of Physical Assistants. According to the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants, in 2019 there were some 139,000 certified medical assistants working in all fields of medicine in the United States. Each state determines the extent of the practice for medical assistants because of the state`s accreditation requirements. In rural and underserved areas, medical assistants can be primary caregivers in clinics where a doctor is only present a few days a week. Medical assistants work with the physician according to legal needs and prescriptions, often based on a collaboration agreement with a physician in which the specific activities of a person working in a particular medical practice are defined. The extent of the determination of the practice relates to the question of whether the extent of a physician`s practice is determined at the level of the office between the medical assistant and the cooperating physician. In some countries, the order of doctors or national law determines the scope of the practice of a medical assistant. Monitoring is determined between the PA and the doctor responsible for the monitoring. The standard-setting authority refers to the question of whether a doctor can prescribe drugs. Some states do not allow physicians to prescribe certain controlled substances. Prudential requirements focus on the need for a written cooperation agreement with a physician capable of sketching out the procedures that the medical assistant can perform.

State policy determines whether the supervisory relationship between the medical assistant and the physician is determined at the firm level (in the medical office where the medical assistant will practice) or by the National Council of Physicians or in national law. A field of practice of PAs is determined by the Order of State Physicians and not by the assistant physician. . For more information on APs that prescribe products containing buprenorphine, visit the Behavioral Health Service Provider page.