Physician duties · PA · Wisconsin
Signing for a Physician Assistant in Wisconsin: what the physician takes on
The agreement is mandatory for the clinician, which makes its duties mandatory for you. Wisconsin calls the instrument a Written Collaborative Agreement.
Wisconsin has no experience/hours-based independent-practice pathway for PAs — a written collaborative agreement with a physician (or, for nonsurgical services, a podiatrist) under Wis. Stat. § 448.975(2) is required for the PA's entire career, unaffected by the APRN Modernization Act (which applies only to nursing, not PAs).
What you take on as the physician
The rules the physician relationship has to follow. Each fact comes from the statute or board rule listed under sources.
Proximity
Available remotely (no on-site requirement)
The collaborating physician must be 'primarily responsible for the overall direction and management' of the PA's activities and ensure services are medically appropriate; no on-site or mile/minute standard is codified.
Supervision ratio
Not codified — no cap on file
Chart review
Not codified — left to the agreement
Meeting cadence
Not codified — left to the agreement
Prescriptive authority
Separate prescribing terms required · controlled substances permitted
Prescriptive scope is set by the collaborative agreement under § 448.975; no schedule-specific numeric limit was located in statute for PAs specifically.
Written agreement
Required
Practice ownership (corporate practice of medicine)
Licensee-only ownership required — Service Corporation under Wis. Stat. ch. 180, subch. XIX (§§ 180.1901-180.1921) — Wisconsin's corporate-practice-of-medicine doctrine requires physicians to practice through a Service Corporation (not an ordinary LLC/LLP); shareholders/directors/officers must be licensed in the same field or be a 'health care professional' generally, which appears to permit multi-discipline ownership including PAs alongside physicians.
A non-physician/non-nurse-anesthetist shareholder with authority to provide services NOT under physician/CRNA direction must independently carry malpractice coverage meeting § 655.23(4) minimums (§ 180.1911) — relevant if a PA holds shares while practicing more autonomously.
What physicians charge for this role
Typical monthly compensation in Wisconsin
$500 – $600
Estimate for one Physician Assistant. This state's proximity rules add a small premium.
About Wisconsin's rules
The APRN Modernization Act (2025 Act 17) took effect September 1, 2026 — days before this data's last-verified date — replacing permanent NP/CRNA/CNS collaborative arrangements with a 3,840-hour/24-month transition to independent practice; CNMs are auto-licensed with NO such threshold. Given how recent this is, verify current DSPS/Board of Nursing implementation guidance before relying on transition-period details below.
Other clinicians in Wisconsin: see the state overview.