Florida Senate - 2013                              CS for SB 536
       
       
       
       By the Committee on Health Policy; and Senator Detert
       
       
       
       
       588-02016-13                                           2013536c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to physical therapy; amending s.
    3         486.021, F.S.; authorizing physical therapists to
    4         implement physical therapy treatment plans of a
    5         specified duration which are provided by advanced
    6         registered nurse practitioners; providing an effective
    7         date.
    8  
    9  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   10  
   11         Section 1. Subsection (11) of section 486.021, Florida
   12  Statutes, is amended to read:
   13         486.021 Definitions.—In this chapter, unless the context
   14  otherwise requires, the term:
   15         (11) “Practice of physical therapy” means the performance
   16  of physical therapy assessments and the treatment of any
   17  disability, injury, disease, or other health condition of human
   18  beings, or the prevention of such disability, injury, disease,
   19  or other condition of health, and rehabilitation as related
   20  thereto by the use of the physical, chemical, and other
   21  properties of air; electricity; exercise; massage; the
   22  performance of acupuncture only upon compliance with the
   23  criteria set forth by the Board of Medicine, when no penetration
   24  of the skin occurs; the use of radiant energy, including
   25  ultraviolet, visible, and infrared rays; ultrasound; water; the
   26  use of apparatus and equipment in the application of the
   27  foregoing or related thereto; the performance of tests of
   28  neuromuscular functions as an aid to the diagnosis or treatment
   29  of any human condition; or the performance of electromyography
   30  as an aid to the diagnosis of any human condition only upon
   31  compliance with the criteria set forth by the Board of Medicine.
   32         (a) A physical therapist may implement a plan of treatment
   33  developed by the physical therapist for a patient or provided
   34  for a patient by a practitioner of record or by an advanced
   35  registered nurse practitioner licensed under s. 464.012. The
   36  physical therapist shall refer the patient to or consult with a
   37  health care practitioner of record licensed under chapter 458,
   38  chapter 459, chapter 460, chapter 461, or chapter 466, if the
   39  patient’s condition is found to be outside the scope of physical
   40  therapy. If physical therapy treatment for a patient is required
   41  beyond 21 days for a condition not previously assessed by a
   42  practitioner of record, the physical therapist shall obtain a
   43  practitioner of record who will review and sign the plan. For
   44  purposes of this paragraph, a health care practitioner licensed
   45  under chapter 458, chapter 459, chapter 460, chapter 461, or
   46  chapter 466 and engaged in active practice is eligible to serve
   47  as a practitioner of record.
   48         (b) The use of roentgen rays and radium for diagnostic and
   49  therapeutic purposes and the use of electricity for surgical
   50  purposes, including cauterization, are not authorized under the
   51  term “physical therapy” for purposes of as used in this chapter.
   52         (c) The practice of physical therapy as defined in this
   53  chapter does not authorize a physical therapy practitioner to
   54  practice chiropractic medicine as defined in chapter 460,
   55  including specific spinal manipulation. For the performance of
   56  specific chiropractic spinal manipulation, a physical therapist
   57  shall refer the patient to a health care practitioner licensed
   58  under chapter 460.
   59         (d) Nothing in This subsection does not authorize
   60  authorizes a physical therapist to implement a plan of treatment
   61  for a patient currently being treated in a facility licensed
   62  pursuant to chapter 395.
   63         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2013.