The Florida Senate

400.9905  Definitions.--

(1)  "Agency" means the Agency for Health Care Administration.

(2)  "Applicant" means an individual owner, corporation, partnership, firm, business, association, or other entity that owns or controls, directly or indirectly, 5 percent or more of an interest in the clinic and that applies for a clinic license.

(3)  "Chief financial officer" means an individual who has at least a minimum of a bachelor's degree from an accredited university in accounting or finance, or a related field, and who is the person responsible for the preparation of a clinic's billing.

(4)  "Clinic" means an entity at which health care services are provided to individuals and which tenders charges for reimbursement for such services, including a mobile clinic and a portable equipment provider. For purposes of this part, the term does not include and the licensure requirements of this part do not apply to:

(a)  Entities licensed or registered by the state under chapter 395; or entities licensed or registered by the state and providing only health care services within the scope of services authorized under their respective licenses granted under ss. 383.30-383.335, chapter 390, chapter 394, chapter 397, this chapter except part X, chapter 429, chapter 463, chapter 465, chapter 466, chapter 478, part I of chapter 483, chapter 484, or chapter 651; end-stage renal disease providers authorized under 42 C.F.R. part 405, subpart U; or providers certified under 42 C.F.R. part 485, subpart B or subpart H; or any entity that provides neonatal or pediatric hospital-based health care services or other health care services by licensed practitioners solely within a hospital licensed under chapter 395.

(b)  Entities that own, directly or indirectly, entities licensed or registered by the state pursuant to chapter 395; or entities that own, directly or indirectly, entities licensed or registered by the state and providing only health care services within the scope of services authorized pursuant to their respective licenses granted under ss. 383.30-383.335, chapter 390, chapter 394, chapter 397, this chapter except part X, chapter 429, chapter 463, chapter 465, chapter 466, chapter 478, part I of chapter 483, chapter 484, chapter 651; end-stage renal disease providers authorized under 42 C.F.R. part 405, subpart U; or providers certified under 42 C.F.R. part 485, subpart B or subpart H; or any entity that provides neonatal or pediatric hospital-based health care services by licensed practitioners solely within a hospital licensed under chapter 395.

(c)  Entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, by an entity licensed or registered by the state pursuant to chapter 395; or entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, by an entity licensed or registered by the state and providing only health care services within the scope of services authorized pursuant to their respective licenses granted under ss. 383.30-383.335, chapter 390, chapter 394, chapter 397, this chapter except part X, chapter 429, chapter 463, chapter 465, chapter 466, chapter 478, part I of chapter 483, chapter 484, or chapter 651; end-stage renal disease providers authorized under 42 C.F.R. part 405, subpart U; or providers certified under 42 C.F.R. part 485, subpart B or subpart H; or any entity that provides neonatal or pediatric hospital-based health care services by licensed practitioners solely within a hospital under chapter 395.

(d)  Entities that are under common ownership, directly or indirectly, with an entity licensed or registered by the state pursuant to chapter 395; or entities that are under common ownership, directly or indirectly, with an entity licensed or registered by the state and providing only health care services within the scope of services authorized pursuant to their respective licenses granted under ss. 383.30-383.335, chapter 390, chapter 394, chapter 397, this chapter except part X, chapter 429, chapter 463, chapter 465, chapter 466, chapter 478, part I of chapter 483, chapter 484, or chapter 651; end-stage renal disease providers authorized under 42 C.F.R. part 405, subpart U; or providers certified under 42 C.F.R. part 485, subpart B or subpart H; or any entity that provides neonatal or pediatric hospital-based health care services by licensed practitioners solely within a hospital licensed under chapter 395.

(e)  An entity that is exempt from federal taxation under 26 U.S.C. s. 501(c)(3) or (4), an employee stock ownership plan under 26 U.S.C. s. 409 that has a board of trustees not less than two-thirds of which are Florida-licensed health care practitioners and provides only physical therapy services under physician orders, any community college or university clinic, and any entity owned or operated by the federal or state government, including agencies, subdivisions, or municipalities thereof.

(f)  A sole proprietorship, group practice, partnership, or corporation that provides health care services by physicians covered by s. 627.419, that is directly supervised by one or more of such physicians, and that is wholly owned by one or more of those physicians or by a physician and the spouse, parent, child, or sibling of that physician.

(g)  A sole proprietorship, group practice, partnership, or corporation that provides health care services by licensed health care practitioners under chapter 457, chapter 458, chapter 459, chapter 460, chapter 461, chapter 462, chapter 463, chapter 466, chapter 467, chapter 480, chapter 484, chapter 486, chapter 490, chapter 491, or part I, part III, part X, part XIII, or part XIV of chapter 468, or s. 464.012, which are wholly owned by one or more licensed health care practitioners, or the licensed health care practitioners set forth in this paragraph and the spouse, parent, child, or sibling of a licensed health care practitioner, so long as one of the owners who is a licensed health care practitioner is supervising the business activities and is legally responsible for the entity's compliance with all federal and state laws. However, a health care practitioner may not supervise services beyond the scope of the practitioner's license, except that, for the purposes of this part, a clinic owned by a licensee in s. 456.053(3)(b) that provides only services authorized pursuant to s. 456.053(3)(b) may be supervised by a licensee specified in s. 456.053(3)(b).

(h)  Clinical facilities affiliated with an accredited medical school at which training is provided for medical students, residents, or fellows.

(i)  Entities that provide only oncology or radiation therapy services by physicians licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 459 or entities that provide oncology or radiation therapy services by physicians licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 459 which are owned by a corporation whose shares are publicly traded on a recognized stock exchange.

(j)  Clinical facilities affiliated with a college of chiropractic accredited by the Council on Chiropractic Education at which training is provided for chiropractic students.

(k)  Entities that provide licensed practitioners to staff emergency departments or to deliver anesthesia services in facilities licensed under chapter 395 and that derive at least 90 percent of their gross annual revenues from the provision of such services. Entities claiming an exemption from licensure under this paragraph must provide documentation demonstrating compliance.

(l)  Orthotic or prosthetic clinical facilities that are a publicly traded corporation or that are wholly owned, directly or indirectly, by a publicly traded corporation. As used in this paragraph, a publicly traded corporation is a corporation that issues securities traded on an exchange registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission as a national securities exchange.

(5)  "Medical director" means a physician who is employed or under contract with a clinic and who maintains a full and unencumbered physician license in accordance with chapter 458, chapter 459, chapter 460, or chapter 461. However, if the clinic does not provide services pursuant to the respective physician practices acts listed in this subsection, it may appoint a Florida-licensed health care practitioner who does not provide services pursuant to the respective physician practices acts listed in this subsection to serve as a clinic director who is responsible for the clinic's activities. A health care practitioner may not serve as the clinic director if the services provided at the clinic are beyond the scope of that practitioner's license, except that a licensee specified in s. 456.053(3)(b) who provides only services authorized pursuant to s. 456.053(3)(b) may serve as clinic director of an entity providing services as specified in s. 456.053(3)(b).

(6)  "Mobile clinic" means a movable or detached self-contained health care unit within or from which direct health care services are provided to individuals and which otherwise meets the definition of a clinic in subsection (4).

(7)  "Portable equipment provider" means an entity that contracts with or employs persons to provide portable equipment to multiple locations performing treatment or diagnostic testing of individuals, that bills third-party payors for those services, and that otherwise meets the definition of a clinic in subsection (4).

History.--s. 4, ch. 2003-411; s. 14, ch. 2004-298; ss. 26, 33, ch. 2004-350; s. 1, ch. 2005-262; s. 7, ch. 2006-192; s. 71, ch. 2006-197; s. 122, ch. 2007-230.