10/18/2026
HB 963 Spotlight: Transitioning from “Supervision” to “Collaboration”
Ohio House Bill 963 seeks to align state law with modern PA education and practice, for the benefit of Ohio patients and healthcare teams alike.
This article is part of a series focusing on the 14 actions within HB 963 that modernize PA practice in Ohio.
Action:
Change the language of the PA and physician relationship from “supervision” to “collaboration.”
Rationale:
“Supervision” is an outdated term that fails to capture the collaborative nature of today’s physician-PA relationship. Updating the terminology to “collaboration” aligns Ohio law with modern healthcare practice.
Ask a PA and a physician who work side by side to describe their relationship, and “supervision” is unlikely to be the word they will use. They consult, they share patients and decisions, and each relies on the other’s expertise. That is collaboration.
Ohio law still describes the relationship in the language of supervision, a term that dates back to the early days of the profession. Words in statute matter. They shape how employers structure jobs, how health systems write policies, and how patients understand who is caring for them.
Ohio PA educator and practicing PA, Amy Phillips DMSc, PA-C, RT(R)(ARRT), describes the situation this way:
"After 26 years as a practicing physician assistant, I have had the privilege of working alongside many physicians in a variety of clinical settings. The language we use to describe the PA-physician relationship should accurately reflect how modern healthcare teams function. ‘Collaboration’ better represents the shared responsibility, communication, mutual respect, and team decision making that occurs every day in clinical practice. Moving from ‘supervision’ to ‘collaboration’ is not about diminishing the role of physicians; it is about recognizing the complementary expertise of physicians and PAs and the approach that ultimately best serves our patients.”
Ohio PA Dawn Russell, PA-C, adds her perspective:
"Ohio law should reflect the way PAs and physicians care for patients together. Throughout my military and civilian career, I have valued physician partnerships built on trust, shared knowledge, and open communication. As PAs, we bring clinical judgment, experience, and responsibility to those relationships. We also understand when to ask questions, seek consultation, and bring another perspective into a patient’s care. HB 963’s proposed change from ‘supervision’ to ‘collaboration’ gives meaningful recognition to that work and helps patients better understand our role. When someone is frightened about a diagnosis or struggling with a chronic illness, they want to know their healthcare team is listening and working together. I support this change because it recognizes PAs across Ohio as accountable professionals while honoring the physician partnerships that strengthen our care. Our laws should support that shared commitment to patients.”
This isn’t just semantics. When the law describes PAs as supervised rather than in collaboration, it undersells the training PAs complete and the responsibility they carry every day. Changing “supervision” to “collaboration” describes the partnership that already exists on healthcare teams across Ohio, in language that matches how modern care is delivered.
Learn more about this and other aspects of House Bill 963, and how you can advocate for PA practice advancement, today.