Must someone be on site while a patient is treated in Delaware?
Oversight · part of The Practice Perimeter
Short answer
Not always — a collaborating physician need only be reachable electronically while a PA treats. But for non-physician delegates, the delegating physician must be physically on the premises if a diagnosis or a prescription treatment plan is involved.
Collaboration is a process in which the physician who oversees patient services and the physician associate jointly contribute to the medical evaluation and treatment of patients, and the collaborating physician must be available for consultation during the patient encounter if needed. The constant physical presence of the collaborating physician is not required on-site in the practice setting, provided the collaborating physician is readily accessible by some form of electronic communication.
24 Del. C. §1770A(2) (Physician associates — “Collaboration”) · verified Sep 8, 2026 · regulatory monitoring, not legal advice
Related Delaware rules
Any physician who delegates medical responsibility to a non-physician is responsible for that individual's medical activities and must provide adequate supervision; no function may be delegated to a non-physician who by statute or professional regulation is prohibited from performing it, and the delegating physician cannot be involved in patient care in name only. Direct supervision requires the delegating physician to be physically on the premises and to perform an evaluation or give a consultation, and is required if a medical diagnosis is rendered or a treatment plan involving prescription medications is to be instituted. Indirect supervision requires the physician to be either physically present on the premises or readily available by an electronic device, meaning able to become physically present within 30 minutes of notification if the situation warrants. A supervising physician who fails to adhere to these regulations is considered to be permitting the unauthorized practice of medicine and is subject to discipline.
24 DAC 1700 §§11.1.1, 11.1.3, 11.1.4, 11.1.7 (Delegation of responsibilities to non-physicians) · verified Sep 8, 2026
An aesthetician is not authorized to prescribe medication or provide medical treatment in the same manner as a dermatologist.
24 Del. C. §5124(1) · verified Sep 3, 2026
How other states answer this
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← All Delaware rules and changes · MedSpaRadar is regulatory monitoring and reference: it summarizes public laws, regulations and agency actions and links each to its source. It is not legal, medical, or compliance advice, and using it creates no attorney-client relationship. A summary can lag its source or leave out detail, and monitoring itself can be interrupted — so an absence of alerts means nothing reached you, not that nothing happened. Read the cited source, check its effective date, and confirm any change to your operations or clinical practice with qualified health-law counsel and your medical director. Legislative data via LegiScan (CC BY 4.0).