Downloads
CS/CS/HB 209 — Medical Faculty and Medical Assistant Certification
by Health and Human Services Committee; Health Quality Subcommittee; and Reps. Miller, A., Diamond, and others (CS/CS/SB 496 by Education Committee; Health Policy Committee; and Senators Brandes and Passidomo)
This summary is provided for information only and does not represent the opinion of any Senator, Senate Officer, or Senate Office.
Prepared by: Health Policy Committee (HP)
The bill expands the criteria under which the Department of Health (DOH) may issue a medical faculty certificate to include a medical physician who has accepted a full time faculty position at a specialty-licensed children’s hospital that is affiliated with any accredited medical school and its affiliated clinics. A medical faculty certificate authorizes a physician to practice medicine in Florida without sitting for and passing a medical examination, but the medical practice may be in conjunction with the faculty position only.
The bill corrects the name of the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science in Jacksonville, Florida, and adds the Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, in St. Petersburg, Florida, to the list of programs of medicine for which a medical faculty certificate may be issued to a full time faculty appointee.
The bill authorizes the DOH to process an application for a temporary certificate for a visiting physician for the limited purpose of providing educational training for medical or surgical residents up to five days in a year, using a unique personal identification number if the physician does not have a social security number, but otherwise meets the credentialing criteria.
The bill requires a medical assistant to obtain a certificate from a certification program accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies, a national or state medical association, or an entity approved by the Board of Medicine, to be credentialed as a certified medical assistant. Under the bill, such certification may be used to qualify for employment as a medical assistant at a multiphasic health testing center.
If approved by the Governor, these provisions take effect July 1, 2017.
Vote: Senate 37-0; House 116-0