CS/HB 341

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to treatment programs for impaired
3	practitioners; amending s. 456.076, F.S.; revising
4	requirements for program consultants; authorizing the
5	Department of Health to contract with consultants to
6	provide treatment services for allopathic and osteopathic
7	physician students alleged to be impaired; providing for
8	absence of liability in civil actions of certain schools
9	for referring students to such consultants or taking
10	certain actions without intentional fraud; providing
11	limited sovereign immunity for certain program consultants
12	under specific contractual conditions; requiring the
13	Department of Financial Services to defend certain actions
14	against program consultants; providing an effective date.
15
16	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
17
18	Section 1.  Subsections (1) and (2) of section 456.076,
19	Florida Statutes, are amended, and subsection (7) is added to
20	that section, to read:
21	456.076  Treatment programs for impaired practitioners.--
22	(1)  For professions that do not have impaired practitioner
23	programs provided for in their practice acts, the department
24	shall, by rule, designate approved impaired practitioner
25	programs under this section. The department may adopt rules
26	setting forth appropriate criteria for approval of treatment
27	providers. The rules may specify the manner in which the
28	consultant, retained as set forth in subsection (2), works with
29	the department in intervention, requirements for evaluating and
30	treating a professional, and requirements for the continued care
31	and monitoring of a professional by the consultant by an
32	approved treatment provider.
33	(2)  The department shall retain one or more impaired
34	practitioner consultants. The A consultant shall be either a
35	licensee under the jurisdiction of the Division of Medical
36	Quality Assurance within the department who is, and at least one
37	consultant must be a practitioner or recovered practitioner
38	licensed under chapter 458, chapter 459, or part I of chapter
39	464 or an entity that employs a medical director who is a
40	practitioner or recovered practitioner licensed under chapter
41	458, chapter 459, or part I of chapter 464. The consultant shall
42	assist the probable cause panel and department in carrying out
43	the responsibilities of this section. This shall include working
44	with department investigators to determine whether a
45	practitioner is, in fact, impaired. The department may contract
46	with the consultant, for appropriate compensation, for services
47	to be provided, if requested by a school, for students enrolled
48	in schools in preparation for licensure as allopathic physicians
49	under chapter 458 or osteopathic physicians under chapter 459
50	who are alleged to be impaired as a result of the misuse or
51	abuse of alcohol or drugs, or both, or due to a mental or
52	physical condition. A medical school accredited by the Liaison
53	Committee on Medical Education or the Commission on Osteopathic
54	College Accreditation, or any other school that provides for the
55	education of students enrolled in preparation for licensure as
56	allopathic physicians under chapter 458 or osteopathic
57	physicians under chapter 459, that is governed by accreditation
58	standards that require notice and the provision of due process
59	procedures to students shall not be held liable in any civil
60	action for referring a student to the consultant retained by the
61	department or for disciplinary actions that adversely affect the
62	status of a student when the disciplinary actions are instituted
63	in reasonable reliance on the recommendations, reports, or
64	conclusions provided by such consultant, provided that the
65	school, in referring the student or taking disciplinary action,
66	adheres to the due process procedures adopted by the applicable
67	accreditation entities and provided that the school committed no
68	intentional fraud in carrying out the provisions of this
69	section.
70	(7)(a)  A consultant retained pursuant to subsection (2),
71	the consultant's officers and employees, and those acting at the
72	direction of the consultant for the limited purpose of an
73	emergency intervention on behalf of a licensee or student as
74	described in subsection (2) when the consultant is unable to
75	perform such intervention shall be considered agents of the
76	department for purposes of s. 768.28 while acting within the
77	scope of the consultant's duties under the contract with the
78	department if the contract complies with the requirements of
79	this section. The contract must provide that:
80	1.  The consultant establish a quality assurance program to
81	monitor services delivered under the contract.
82	2.  The consultant's quality assurance program, treatment,
83	and monitoring records be evaluated quarterly.
84	3.  The consultant's quality assurance program be subject
85	to review and approval by the department.
86	4.  The consultant operate under policies and procedures
87	approved by the department.
88	5.  The consultant provide to the department for approval a
89	policy and procedure manual that comports with all statutes,
90	rules, and contract provisions approved by the department.
91	6.  The department be entitled to review the records
92	relating to the consultant's performance under the contract for
93	the purpose of management audits, financial audits, or program
94	evaluation.
95	7.  All performance measures and standards be subject to
96	verification and approval by the department.
97	8.  The department be entitled to terminate the contract
98	with the consultant for noncompliance with the contract.
99	(b)  In accordance with s. 284.385, the Department of
100	Financial Services shall defend any claim, suit, action, or
101	proceeding against the consultant, the consultant's officers or
102	employees, or those acting at the direction of the consultant
103	for the limited purpose of an emergency intervention on behalf
104	of a licensee or student as described in subsection (2) when the
105	consultant is unable to perform such intervention when such
106	claim, suit, action, or proceeding is brought as a result of any
107	act or omission of action of any of the consultant's officers or
108	employees or those acting at the direction of the consultant for
109	the limited purpose of an emergency intervention on behalf of a
110	licensee or student as described in subsection (2) when the
111	consultant is unable to perform such intervention and when such
112	act or omission arises out of and in the scope of the
113	consultant's duties under the consultant's contract with the
114	department.
115	(c)  If the consultant retained pursuant to subsection (2)
116	is retained by any other state agency and the contract between
117	such state agency and the consultant complies with the
118	requirements of this section, then the consultant, the
119	consultant's officers and employees, and those acting at the
120	direction of the consultant for the limited purpose of an
121	emergency intervention on behalf of a licensee or student as
122	described in subsection (2) when the consultant is unable to
123	perform such intervention shall be considered agents of the
124	state for the purposes of this section while acting within the
125	scope of and pursuant to guidelines established in the contract
126	between such state agency and the consultant.
127	Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2008.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.