PA · New Jersey
Collaborative Practice Agreement for Physician Assistants in New Jersey
Yes, a written physician agreement is required. New Jersey calls it a Written Supervision Agreement.
S2996's independent-practice reform applies only to advanced practice nurses, not PAs — no independent-practice pathway exists for PAs in New Jersey regardless of experience (N.J.S.A. 45:9-27.10 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)
Supervision must be continuous but does not necessarily require the physical presence of the supervising physician, provided contact is maintained through electronic or other means of communication (N.J.A.C. 13:35-2B.10).
Supervision ratio
Up to 4 at a time
No more than 4 PAs to 1 physician at any one time; the Board of Medical Examiners may alter this ratio upon application (N.J.A.C. 13:35-2B.11).
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
The delegation agreement must state whether the supervising physician requires personal review of all charts and countersignature of medical services, and the timeframe for that review — this is a codified on/off requirement, but NJ leaves the review percentage and cadence itself to the agreement rather than fixing a number (N.J.S.A. 45:9-27.10 et seq.), which is why chartReview above is left empty rather than populated with a percentage.
Written agreement
Required
Practice ownership (corporate practice of medicine)
Licensee-only ownership required — Professional Corporation under the NJ Professional Service Corporation Act (N.J.S.A. 14A:17-1 et seq.) — shares may issue only to someone 'duly licensed or otherwise legally authorized to render the same professional service' as the corporation was formed to provide. A PA is not licensed to practice medicine, so a PA cannot independently own the PC a PA practices through; it must be physician-owned.
Some secondary sources cite a 'closely allied professional service' concept under N.J.S.A. 14A:17-3 that could permit certain multi-discipline professional combinations, while others describe a strict same-profession-only rule with no such allowance — these sources conflict and this was not resolved against primary statutory text in this research pass. Treat PA (or APN) independent PC ownership as unconfirmed rather than assuming either answer.
Legal sources for these rules (4)
- N.J.S.A. 45:9-27.10 et seq. — Physician Assistant Licensing Act
- N.J.S.A. 45:9-27.17 — Physician's responsibility for assistantsecondary
- N.J.A.C. 13:35-2B.10 — Supervisionsecondary
- N.J.A.C. 13:35-2B.11 — Supervisory ratio (secondary-sourced pending direct text confirmation)
What a collaborating physician costs here
Typical monthly cost in New Jersey
$500 – $800
Estimate for one Physician Assistant. This state's proximity rules add a small premium.
About New Jersey's rules
S2996/A4052 (signed 3/30/2026) grants APNs in primary/behavioral-health population foci independent practice at ≥5,000 hours, ending the COVID-era waiver — but implementing regulations were not yet adopted at this writing, so several details below rely on bill text/press coverage, not a finalized rule. NJ's Professional Service Corporation Act (N.J.S.A. 14A:17-1 et seq.) is notably strict CPOM: only physicians may hold equity in a medical PC.
Other clinicians in New Jersey: see the state overview.