Florida Senate - 2017                       CS for CS for SB 496
       
       
        
       By the Committees on Education; and Health Policy; and Senators
       Brandes and Passidomo
       
       
       
       
       581-03350-17                                           2017496c2
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to medical faculty and medical
    3         assistant certification; amending s. 456.013, F.S.;
    4         requiring the Department of Health to process certain
    5         applications for a temporary certificate using a
    6         personal identification number in lieu of a social
    7         security number under specified circumstances;
    8         amending s. 458.3137, F.S.; revising the circumstances
    9         under which a visiting physician may be issued a
   10         temporary certificate to obtain limited medical
   11         privileges for instructional purposes; amending s.
   12         458.3145, F.S.; revising the list of institutions at
   13         which certain faculty members are eligible to receive
   14         a medical faculty certificate; authorizing a
   15         certificateholder to practice at certain specialty
   16         licensed children’s hospitals; revising provisions to
   17         authorize the medical director of certain specialty
   18         licensed children’s hospitals to request the provision
   19         of medical care and treatment in connection with
   20         education; amending s. 458.3485, F.S.; providing a
   21         requirement to earn a certified medical assistant
   22         credential; amending s. 483.291, F.S.; revising
   23         qualifications for employment as a medical assistant
   24         in a multiphasic health testing center; providing an
   25         effective date.
   26          
   27  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   28  
   29         Section 1. Subsection (1) of section 456.013, Florida
   30  Statutes, is amended to read:
   31         456.013 Department; general licensing provisions.—
   32         (1)(a) Any person desiring to be licensed in a profession
   33  within the jurisdiction of the department shall apply to the
   34  department in writing to take the licensure examination. The
   35  application shall be made on a form prepared and furnished by
   36  the department. The application form must be available on the
   37  World Wide Web and the department may accept electronically
   38  submitted applications beginning July 1, 2001. The application
   39  shall require the social security number of the applicant,
   40  except as provided in paragraphs paragraph (b) and (c). The form
   41  shall be supplemented as needed to reflect any material change
   42  in any circumstance or condition stated in the application which
   43  takes place between the initial filing of the application and
   44  the final grant or denial of the license and which might affect
   45  the decision of the department. If an application is submitted
   46  electronically, the department may require supplemental
   47  materials, including an original signature of the applicant and
   48  verification of credentials, to be submitted in a nonelectronic
   49  format. An incomplete application shall expire 1 year after
   50  initial filing. In order to further the economic development
   51  goals of the state, and notwithstanding any law to the contrary,
   52  the department may enter into an agreement with the county tax
   53  collector for the purpose of appointing the county tax collector
   54  as the department’s agent to accept applications for licenses
   55  and applications for renewals of licenses. The agreement must
   56  specify the time within which the tax collector must forward any
   57  applications and accompanying application fees to the
   58  department.
   59         (b) If an applicant has not been issued a social security
   60  number by the Federal Government at the time of application
   61  because the applicant is not a citizen or resident of this
   62  country, the department may process the application using a
   63  unique personal identification number. If such an applicant is
   64  otherwise eligible for licensure, the board, or the department
   65  when there is no board, may issue a temporary license to the
   66  applicant, which shall expire 30 days after issuance unless a
   67  social security number is obtained and submitted in writing to
   68  the department. Upon receipt of the applicant’s social security
   69  number, the department shall issue a new license, which shall
   70  expire at the end of the current biennium.
   71         (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if an
   72  applicant for a temporary certificate as set forth in s.
   73  458.3137 has not been issued a social security number by the
   74  Federal Government at the time of application because the
   75  applicant is not a citizen or resident of this country, the
   76  department shall process the application using a unique personal
   77  identification number. If such applicant is otherwise eligible
   78  for the temporary certificate, the board, or the department when
   79  there is no board, shall issue the temporary certificate without
   80  requiring the applicant to provide a social security number.
   81         Section 2. Subsection (1) of section 458.3137, Florida
   82  Statutes, is amended to read:
   83         458.3137 Temporary certificate for visiting physicians to
   84  obtain medical privileges for instructional purposes in
   85  conjunction with certain plastic surgery or other medical or
   86  surgical training programs and educational symposiums.—
   87         (1) A physician who has been invited by:
   88  (a) A plastic surgery or other medical or surgical training
   89  program affiliated with a medical school in this state which is
   90  accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical
   91  Education or the American Osteopathic Association or which is
   92  part of a teaching hospital as defined in s. 408.07; or
   93         (b)A teaching hospital as defined in s. 408.07; or
   94         (c)(b) An educational symposium cosponsored by the American
   95  Society of Plastic Surgeons, the Plastic Surgery Educational
   96  Foundation, the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery,
   97  or any other medical or surgical society in conjunction with a
   98  medical school or teaching hospital as defined in s. 408.07, may
   99  be issued a temporary certificate for limited privileges solely
  100  for purposes of providing educational training in plastic
  101  surgery or other medical or surgical procedures, as appropriate,
  102  in accordance with the restrictions set forth in this section.
  103         Section 3. Section 458.3145, Florida Statutes, is amended
  104  to read:
  105         458.3145 Medical faculty certificate.—
  106         (1) A medical faculty certificate may be issued without
  107  examination to an individual who:
  108         (a) Is a graduate of an accredited medical school or its
  109  equivalent, or is a graduate of a foreign medical school listed
  110  with the World Health Organization;
  111         (b) Holds a valid, current license to practice medicine in
  112  another jurisdiction;
  113         (c) Has completed the application form and remitted a
  114  nonrefundable application fee not to exceed $500;
  115         (d) Has completed an approved residency or fellowship of at
  116  least 1 year or has received training which has been determined
  117  by the board to be equivalent to the 1-year residency
  118  requirement;
  119         (e) Is at least 21 years of age;
  120         (f) Is of good moral character;
  121         (g) Has not committed any act in this or any other
  122  jurisdiction which would constitute the basis for disciplining a
  123  physician under s. 458.331;
  124         (h) For any applicant who has graduated from medical school
  125  after October 1, 1992, has completed, before entering medical
  126  school, the equivalent of 2 academic years of preprofessional,
  127  postsecondary education, as determined by rule of the board,
  128  which must include, at a minimum, courses in such fields as
  129  anatomy, biology, and chemistry; and
  130         (i) Has been offered and has accepted a full-time faculty
  131  appointment to teach in a program of medicine at:
  132         1. The University of Florida;
  133         2. The University of Miami;
  134         3. The University of South Florida;
  135         4. The Florida State University;
  136         5. The Florida International University;
  137         6. The University of Central Florida;
  138         7. The Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science in
  139  Jacksonville, Florida; or
  140         8. The Florida Atlantic University; or
  141         9.The Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St.
  142  Petersburg, Florida.
  143         (2) The certificate authorizes the holder to practice only
  144  in conjunction with his or her faculty position at an accredited
  145  medical school and its affiliated clinical facilities or
  146  teaching hospitals that are registered with the Board of
  147  Medicine as sites at which holders of medical faculty
  148  certificates will be practicing, or a specialty-licensed
  149  children’s hospital licensed under chapter 395 that is
  150  affiliated with an accredited medical school and its affiliated
  151  clinics. Such certificate automatically expires when the
  152  holder’s relationship with the medical school is terminated or
  153  after a period of 24 months, whichever occurs sooner, and is
  154  renewable every 2 years by a holder who applies to the board on
  155  a form prescribed by the board and provides certification by the
  156  dean of the medical school that the holder is a distinguished
  157  medical scholar and an outstanding practicing physician.
  158         (3) The holder of a medical faculty certificate issued
  159  under this section has all rights and responsibilities
  160  prescribed by law for the holder of a license issued under s.
  161  458.311, except as specifically provided otherwise by law. Such
  162  responsibilities include compliance with continuing medical
  163  education requirements as set forth by rule of the board. A
  164  hospital or ambulatory surgical center licensed under chapter
  165  395, health maintenance organization certified under chapter
  166  641, insurer as defined in s. 624.03, multiple-employer welfare
  167  arrangement as defined in s. 624.437, or any other entity in
  168  this state, in considering and acting upon an application for
  169  staff membership, clinical privileges, or other credentials as a
  170  health care provider, may not deny the application of an
  171  otherwise qualified physician for such staff membership,
  172  clinical privileges, or other credentials solely because the
  173  applicant is a holder of a medical faculty certificate under
  174  this section.
  175         (4) In any year, the maximum number of extended medical
  176  faculty certificateholders as provided in subsection (2) may not
  177  exceed 30 persons at each institution named in subparagraphs
  178  (1)(i)1.-6., and 8., and 9. and at the facility named in s.
  179  1004.43 and may not exceed 10 persons at the institution named
  180  in subparagraph (1)(i)7.
  181         (5) Annual review of all such certificate recipients will
  182  be made by the deans of the accredited 4-year medical schools
  183  provided in paragraph (1)(i) within this state and reported to
  184  the Board of Medicine.
  185         (6) Notwithstanding subsection (1), any physician, when
  186  providing medical care or treatment in connection with the
  187  education of students, residents, or faculty at the request of
  188  the dean of an accredited medical school within this state or at
  189  the request of the medical director of a statutory teaching
  190  hospital as defined in s. 408.07 or a specialty-licensed
  191  children’s hospital licensed under chapter 395 that is
  192  affiliated with an accredited medical school and its affiliated
  193  clinics, may do so upon registration with the board and
  194  demonstration of financial responsibility pursuant to s.
  195  458.320(1) or (2) unless such physician is exempt under s.
  196  458.320(5)(a). The performance of such medical care or treatment
  197  must be limited to a single period of time, which may not exceed
  198  180 consecutive days, and must be rendered within a facility
  199  registered under subsection (2) or within a statutory teaching
  200  hospital as defined in s. 408.07. A registration fee not to
  201  exceed $300, as set by the board, is required of each physician
  202  registered under this subsection. However, no more than three
  203  physicians per year per institution may be registered under this
  204  subsection, and an exemption under this subsection may not be
  205  granted to a physician more than once in any given 5-year
  206  period.
  207         Section 4. Subsection (3) is added to section 458.3485,
  208  Florida Statutes, to read:
  209         458.3485 Medical assistant.—
  210         (3)CERTIFICATION.—In order to earn a credential as a
  211  certified medical assistant, a medical assistant shall obtain
  212  certification from a certification program accredited by the
  213  National Commission for Certifying Agencies.
  214         Section 5. Paragraph (b) of subsection (7) of section
  215  483.291, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
  216         483.291 Powers and duties of the agency; rules.—The agency
  217  shall adopt rules to implement this part and part II of chapter
  218  408, which rules must include the following:
  219         (7) PERSONNEL.—The agency shall prescribe minimum
  220  qualifications for center personnel. A center may employ as a
  221  medical assistant a person who has at least one of the following
  222  qualifications:
  223         (b) Certification and registration from a certification
  224  program accredited by the National Commission for Certifying
  225  Agencies and approved by the agency by the American Medical
  226  Technologists Association or other similar professional
  227  association approved by the agency.
  228         Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2017.