PA · Delaware
Collaborative Practice Agreement for Physician Assistants in Delaware
Yes, a written physician agreement is required. Delaware does not name a specific instrument.
No independent-practice pathway exists for PAs in Delaware — a written collaborative agreement with a supervising physician is required for as long as the PA practices (24 Del.C. § 1770 et seq.).
What the collaboration must look like
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)
Where the PA treats patients at a location the supervising physician doesn't routinely occupy, the physician must ensure the means/methods of supervision (which may include telecommunication and chart review) are adequate, detailed in the written collaborative agreement (24 Del.C. § 1771). No fixed mile/minute radius is codified.
Supervision ratio
Up to 4 at a time
A physician may not collaborate with more than 4 PAs at any one time, unless a Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline regulation increases or decreases that number (24 Del.C. § 1771).
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 must be addressed in the written collaborative agreement; Delaware statute/rule doesn't appear to set a schedule-specific supply-limit the way some states do — not fully confirmed in this research pass, treat as uncertain rather than assuming no limit exists.
Written agreement
Required
Practice ownership (corporate practice of medicine)
Licensee-only ownership required — Professional (service) corporation under 8 Del.C. Ch. 6 — every shareholder must be individually licensed to render the corporation's professional service. Ch. 6's 'qualified related professional services' provision only names medicine + podiatry as a permitted cross-license combination; whether a PA may co-own a corporation with the supervising physician under that provision is not confirmed in this research pass — treat as an open item.
Distinct from the clinical collaborative-agreement relationship above — the supervising physician need not own the entity the PA practices through.
Legal sources for these rules (3)
What a collaborating physician costs here
Typical monthly cost in Delaware
$500 – $800
Estimate for one Physician Assistant. This state's proximity rules add a small premium.
About Delaware's rules
Delaware grants full independent practice to APRNs (NP/CRNA/CNM/CNS) after a uniform 2-year/4,000-hour transition period (24 Del.C. § 1906(20); 24 DE Admin. Code 1900 § 8.0) — this research pass treats that rule as applying identically across all four APRN roles; confirm role-specific nuance with the Board of Nursing before relying on it. PAs have no independent-practice pathway.
Other clinicians in Delaware: see the state overview.