Signing for a Physician Assistant in Georgia: what the physician takes on

No proximity requirement

Confirmed: O.C.G.A. § 43-34-103 has no physical-proximity/mileage clause at all — subsection (d) explicitly permits a PA to provide services 'not in the physical presence of the supervising physician.' This is a genuine asymmetry with the APRN-specific 50-mile rule (§ 43-34-25) used in the `np`/`pmhnp`/`cnm`/`cns` entries below.

Up to 8 at a time (combined across provider types)

O.C.G.A. § 43-34-103(b)(1), as amended by H.B. 1046 (eff. 7/1/2024): a delegating physician is capped at a flat 'combined equivalent of eight' APRN nurse protocol agreements and PA job descriptions together — for BOTH entering agreements and actively supervising, confirmed directly against GCMB's current guidance — raised from a prior 4-PA-specific cap. Exceptions still apply for hospitals, universities, health departments, and similar settings.

Covered by the practice agreement · controlled substances permitted

PAs may not prescribe Schedule I or II controlled substances as a general matter (O.C.G.A. § 43-34-103). A narrow exception effective 7/1/2024 (H.B. 557, codified at § 43-34-103(e.1)(1)(B)): a PA may be delegated authority to prescribe hydrocodone, oxycodone, or compounds thereof ONLY, in emergency situations, subject to ALL of: ≥1 year post-licensure experience, good GCMB standing, job-description-specific authorization, in-person patient evaluation, initial-prescription-only (≤5-day supply), patient age ≥18, and 1 hour biennial CE on appropriate hydrocodone/oxycodone ordering. Schedule III-V is available under standard delegated authority.

Licensee-only ownership required — Georgia has no standalone corporate-practice-of-medicine statute by that name — the operative ownership restriction is O.C.G.A. § 14-7-5 (Professional Corporations Act): only persons licensed in Georgia in the relevant profession AND actively engaged in that practice may be shareholders of a PC organized for that profession. A PA is not a physician, so cannot own a medicine-practicing PC/PLLC — PA practices are typically structured with a physician-owned entity and the PA as employee.