| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to medical profession regulation; amending |
| 3 | s. 456.041, F.S.; revising provisions relating to the |
| 4 | content of the Department of Health's practitioner |
| 5 | profiles; amending s. 458.307, F.S.; revising membership |
| 6 | and terms of members of the Board of Medicine; providing |
| 7 | an effective date. |
| 8 |
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| 9 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 10 |
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| 11 | Section 1. Subsection (4) of section 456.041, Florida |
| 12 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 13 | 456.041 Practitioner profile; creation.-- |
| 14 | (4) The Department of Health shall include, with respect |
| 15 | to a practitioner licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 459, a |
| 16 | statement of how the practitioner has elected to comply with the |
| 17 | financial responsibility requirements of s. 458.320 or s. |
| 18 | 459.0085. The department shall include, with respect to |
| 19 | practitioners subject to s. 456.048, a statement of how the |
| 20 | practitioner has elected to comply with the financial |
| 21 | responsibility requirements of that section. The department |
| 22 | shall include, with respect to practitioners licensed under |
| 23 | chapter 461, information relating to liability actions which has |
| 24 | been reported under s. 456.049 or s. 627.912 within the previous |
| 25 | 10 years for any paid claim that exceeds $5,000. The department |
| 26 | shall include, with respect to practitioners licensed under |
| 27 | chapter 458, or chapter 459, or chapter 461, information |
| 28 | relating to liability actions that which has been reported under |
| 29 | ss. 456.049 and 627.912 within the previous 10 years for any |
| 30 | paid claim that exceeds $50,000. Any $100,000. Such claims |
| 31 | information shall be reported in the context of comparing an |
| 32 | individual practitioner's claims to the experience of other |
| 33 | practitioners within the same specialty, or profession if the |
| 34 | practitioner is not a specialist. The department must provide a |
| 35 | hyperlink in such practitioner's profile to all such comparison |
| 36 | reports. If information relating to a liability action is |
| 37 | included in a practitioner's practitioner profile, the profile |
| 38 | must also include the following statement: "Settlement of a |
| 39 | claim may occur for a variety of reasons that do not necessarily |
| 40 | reflect negatively on the professional competence or conduct of |
| 41 | the practitioner. A payment in settlement of a medical |
| 42 | malpractice action or claim should not be construed as creating |
| 43 | a presumption that medical malpractice has occurred." |
| 44 | Section 2. Subsections (2) and (3) of section 458.307, |
| 45 | Florida Statutes, are amended to read: |
| 46 | 458.307 Board of Medicine.-- |
| 47 | (2) Ten Twelve members of the board must be licensed |
| 48 | physicians in good standing in this state who are residents of |
| 49 | the state and who have been engaged in the active practice or |
| 50 | teaching of medicine in this state with a full and unrestricted |
| 51 | medical license for at least 5 4 years immediately preceding |
| 52 | their appointment. One of the physicians must be on the full- |
| 53 | time faculty of a medical school in this state, and one of the |
| 54 | physicians must be in private practice and on the full-time |
| 55 | staff of a statutory teaching hospital in this state as defined |
| 56 | in s. 408.07. At least one of the physicians must be a graduate |
| 57 | of a foreign medical school. Four members must be consumer |
| 58 | members and The remaining three members must each be a resident |
| 59 | residents of the state who has lived in the state for at least 5 |
| 60 | years immediately preceding his or her appointment, has never |
| 61 | been licensed as a health care practitioner under chapter 456 or |
| 62 | the applicable practice act, and does not have a substantial |
| 63 | personal, business, professional, or pecuniary connection with a |
| 64 | licensed health care practitioner or with a medical education or |
| 65 | health care facility, except as a patient or potential patient. |
| 66 | The final are not, and never have been, licensed health care |
| 67 | practitioners. One member must be the chief operations officer |
| 68 | of a hospital a health care risk manager licensed under chapter |
| 69 | 395 who has lived in the state and held this position for at |
| 70 | least 5 years immediately preceding his or her appointment s. |
| 71 | 395.10974. At least one member of the board must be 60 years of |
| 72 | age or older. |
| 73 | (3) Terms for current members of the board shall expire on |
| 74 | October 31, 2007. Initial appointments to the board pursuant to |
| 75 | this act shall take effect November 1, 2007. Five of the initial |
| 76 | physician appointments shall be for terms of 2 years each; five |
| 77 | of the initial physician appointments shall be for terms of 3 |
| 78 | years each; and the remaining initial appointments shall be for |
| 79 | terms of 4 years each. As the terms of the members expire |
| 80 | subsequent to November 1, 2007, the Governor shall appoint |
| 81 | successors for terms of 4 years, and such members shall serve |
| 82 | until their successors are appointed. |
| 83 | Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2007. |