09/21/2026

HB 963 Spotlight: Authorizing PAs to Use Ablative Lasers

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:

Authorize PAs to use ablative lasers.

Rationale:

PAs are trained and certified to perform many dermatologic procedures. Allowing them to use ablative lasers improves access to safe, in-demand treatments, particularly in underserved areas.

Ablative lasers are used to treat everything from severe burn scars and chronic wounds to precancerous skin lesions, removing damaged tissue layer by layer so healthy skin can heal in its place. For many patients, this isn't an elective choice. It's a necessary step in recovery, restoring a patient's mobility and comfortable in their own skin and helping them move through the world without pain or self-consciousness holding them back.

With more than a decade in dermatology, Ohio PA Danielle Spatholt, MSBS, PA-C, sees the benefit of permitting PAs to use ablative lasers in her practice. Her patients who suffer from common conditions such as scarring, actinic keratoses, sun damage, and more would benefit from her ability to use ablative lasers, yet they end up waiting longer and paying more for such services because they have to see a different provider.

"My education and training have positioned me well to safely use this tool in my daily practice. Updating Ohio law to reflect the reality of modern dermatologic care, and the ability of PAs to safely and effectively provide that care, would improve efficiency and access for our patients."

Ohio PA Rachel McKernan, DMSc, MPAS, PA-C, President of the Ohio Society of Dermatology PAs, echoes the importance of empowering PAs to use ablative lasers. She works alongside numerous PAs in a dermatology practice and anticipates a signficant improvement in delivering patient care with this change in Ohio law.

"Ohio’s PA workforce is highly educated, expertly trained, and expanding rapidly. As the number of dermatology PAs grow, authorizing the use of ablative lasers through Ohio law is a common-sense update that will directly improve patient outcomes, patient wait times, and the overall patient experience."

With experience in surgery and critical care, Ohio PA Mary Bruce, MPAS, PA-C, works at one of Ohio's premier children's hospitals, and she comes face to face with patients every day who would benefit from better access to care if she were authorized to use ablative lasers.

"I have been a PA for 23 years, including the last 14 years working in burn surgery. Prior to moving to Ohio 6 years ago, I practiced in other states where I had the authority to use ablative lasers on patients. Not allowing Ohio PAs that work in burn surgery to perform procedures with ablative lasers limits my ability to offer treatments that could have a huge impact on my pediatric patients' lives."

Authorizing PAs to use ablative lasers is a small legal change with an outsized impact, closing gaps in access, cutting wait times and costs, and letting trained providers deliver care patients already trust them to give. Learn more about this and other aspects of House Bill 963, and how you can advocate for PA practice advancement, today.