^{By Donald A. Balasa, JD, MBA
Originally published February 18, 2026}

I recently received the following question from a manager in Kansas:

We have a new sports medicine physician joining us, [who] will be doing procedures with platelet-rich plasma. He [wants] his medical assistant to draw the blood from the patient and for [the medical assistant] to be trained to use an ultrasound if needed to find a vein.

My perception is that using the ultrasound would be outside of [medical assistants’] scope of practice.

Would you be able to provide any guidance on this?

Please see my legal opinion letter for Kansas. Kansas law does not answer your question.

Also, it appears that Kansas does not license diagnostic medical sonographers. In other words, Kansas law does not require diagnostic medical sonographers to have specified education or a diagnostic medical sonography credential to work as a sonographer.

I suggest that you ask your employer’s malpractice carrier whether it would cover any negligence by medical assistants in performing this task. This opinion should be in writing.