Minnesota Session Laws - 1988, Regular Session

  

                         Laws of Minnesota 1988 

                        CHAPTER 549-S.F.No. 335 
           An act relating to occupations and professions; 
          regulating continuing education for physical 
          therapists; specifying the amounts of certain fees; 
          specifying certain grounds for disciplinary action; 
          prohibiting certain business relationships in the 
          practice of physical therapy; regulating physical 
          therapy treatment without referral by a physician; 
          amending Minnesota Statutes 1986, sections 148.70; 
          148.73; 148.74; 148.75; and 148.76, subdivision 2. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
    Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 148.70, is 
amended to read:  
    148.70 [APPLICANTS, QUALIFICATIONS.] 
    It shall be the duty of the board of medical examiners with 
the advice and assistance of the physical therapy council to 
pass upon the qualifications of applicants for registration, 
continuing education requirements for reregistration, provide 
for and conduct all examinations following satisfactory 
completion of all didactic requirements, determine the 
applicants who successfully pass the examination, and duly 
register such applicants after the applicant has presented 
evidence satisfactory to the board that the applicant has 
completed a program of education or continuing education 
approved by the board. 
    Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 148.73, is 
amended to read:  
    148.73 [RENEWALS.] 
    Every registered physical therapist shall, during each 
January, apply to the board for an extension of registration and 
pay a fee in the amount set by the board.  Registration that is 
not so extended on or before January 31 each year, shall 
automatically lapse on said date.  The board, in its discretion, 
may revive and extend a lapsed registration on the payment of 
the required fees.  Registrants shall likewise pay the annual 
registration fee for the balance of the first year of their 
registration The extension of registration is contingent upon 
demonstration that the continuing education requirements set by 
the board under section 148.70 have been satisfied. 
    Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 148.74, is 
amended to read:  
    148.74 [RULES.] 
    The board is authorized to adopt rules as may be necessary 
to carry out the purposes of sections 148.65 to 148.78.  The 
secretary of the board shall keep a record of proceedings under 
these sections and a register of all persons registered under 
it.  The register shall show the name, address, date and number 
of registration, and the renewal thereof.  Any other interested 
person in the state may obtain a copy of such list on request to 
the board upon payment of an amount as may be fixed by the 
board, which shall not exceed the cost of the list so 
furnished.  The board shall provide blanks, books, certificates, 
and stationery and assistance as is necessary for the 
transaction of the business of the board and the physical 
therapy council hereunder, and all money received by the board 
under sections 148.65 to 148.78 shall be paid into the state 
treasury as provided for by law.  The board shall set by rule 
the amounts of the application fee and the annual registration 
fee.  The fees collected by the board must be sufficient to 
cover the costs of administering sections 148.65 to 148.78. 
    Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 148.75, is 
amended to read:  
    148.75 [CERTIFICATES; DENIAL, SUSPENSION, REVOCATION.] 
    The state board of medical examiners may refuse to grant 
registration to any physical therapist, or may suspend or revoke 
the registration of any physical therapist for any of the 
following grounds:  
    (a) using drugs or intoxicating liquors to an extent which 
affects professional competence; 
    (b) been convicted of a felony; 
    (c) conviction for violating any state or federal narcotic 
law;  
    (d) procuring, aiding or abetting a criminal abortion; 
    (e) registration or attempted registration by fraud or 
deception;  
    (f) conduct unbecoming a person registered as a physical 
therapist or conduct detrimental to the best interests of the 
public;  
    (g) gross negligence in the practice of physical therapy as 
a physical therapist;  
    (h) treating human ailments by physical therapy treatment 
after an initial 30-day period of patient admittance to 
treatment has lapsed, except by the order or referral of a 
person licensed in this state to practice medicine as defined in 
section 147.10, the practice of chiropractic as defined in 
section 148.01, the practice of podiatry as defined in section 
153.01, or the practice of dentistry as defined in section 
150A.05 and whose license is in good standing; or when a 
previous diagnosis exists indicating an ongoing condition 
warranting physical therapy treatment, subject to periodic 
review defined by board of medical examiners rule; 
     (i) treating human ailments without referral by physical 
therapy treatment without first having practiced one year under 
a physician's orders as verified by the board's records; 
     (j) failure to consult with the patient's health care 
provider who prescribed the physical therapy treatment if the 
treatment is altered by the physical therapist from the original 
written order.  The provision does not include written orders 
specifying orders to "evaluate and treat"; 
    (k) treating human ailments other than by physical therapy 
unless duly licensed or registered to do so under the laws of 
this state;  
    (j) (l) inappropriate delegation to a physical therapist 
assistant or inappropriate task assignment to an aide or 
inadequate supervision of either level of supportive personnel; 
    (k) (m) treating human ailments other than by performing 
physical therapy procedures unless duly licensed or registered 
to do so under the laws of this state;  
    (l) (n) practicing as a physical therapist performing 
medical diagnosis, the practice of medicine as defined in 
section 147.10, or the practice of chiropractic as defined in 
section 148.01;  
    (m) (o) failure to comply with a reasonable request to 
obtain appropriate clearance for mental or physical conditions 
which would interfere with the ability to practice physical 
therapy, and which may be potentially harmful to patients; and 
    (n) (p) dividing fees with, or paying or promising to pay a 
commission or part of the fee to, any person who contacts the 
physical therapist for consultation or sends patients to the 
physical therapist for treatment; 
     (q) engaging in an incentive payment arrangement, other 
than that prohibited by clause (p), that tends to promote 
physical therapy over-utilization, whereby the referring person 
or person who controls the availability of physical therapy 
services to a client profits unreasonably as a result of patient 
treatment; 
     (r) practicing physical therapy and failing to refer to a 
licensed health care professional any patient whose medical 
condition at the time of evaluation has been determined by the 
physical therapist to be beyond the scope of practice of a 
physical therapist; and 
     (s) failure to report to the board other registered 
physical therapists who violate this section. 
    A certificate of registration to practice as a physical 
therapist is suspended if (1) a guardian of the person of the 
physical therapist is appointed by order of a probate court 
pursuant to sections 525.54 to 525.612, for reasons other than 
the minority of the physical therapist; or (2) the physical 
therapist is committed by order of a probate court pursuant to 
253B or sections 526.09 to 526.11.  The certificate of 
registration remains suspended until the physical therapist is 
restored to capacity by a court and, upon petition by the 
physical therapist, the suspension is terminated by the board of 
medical examiners after a hearing.  
    Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 148.76, 
subdivision 2, is amended to read:  
    Subd. 2.  No physical therapist shall: 
    (a) treat human ailments by physical therapy treatment 
after an initial 30-day period of patient admittance to 
treatment has lapsed, except by the order or referral of a 
person licensed in this state to practice medicine as defined in 
section 147.10, the practice of chiropractic as defined in 
section 148.01, the practice of podiatry as defined in section 
153.01, or the practice of dentistry as defined in section 
150A.05 and whose license is in good standing; or when a 
previous diagnosis exists indicating an ongoing condition 
warranting physical therapy treatment, subject to periodic 
review defined by board of medical examiners rule; 
    (b) treat human ailments by physical therapy treatment 
without first having practiced one year under a physician's 
orders as verified by the board's records; 
    (c) utilize any chiropractic manipulative technique whose 
end is the chiropractic adjustment of an abnormal articulation 
of the body; and 
    (d) treat human ailments other than by physical therapy 
unless duly licensed or registered to do so under the laws of 
this state. 
    Approved April 18, 1988