64B15-6.0035. Physician Assistant Licensure Renewal and Reactivation

(1) A Physician Assistant must renew his licensure on a biennial basis. Upon request by the Board or Department, the licensee must submit satisfactory documentation of compliance with the requirements set forth below.

(2) Requirements for Renewal.

(a) Completion of the Physician Assistant licensure renewal application on the appropriate form provided by the Department.

(b) Completion of 100 hours of Continuing Medical Education in the previous two (2) years or documentation that the licensee is certified at the time of renewal by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants. A minimum of 50 hours must be Category I Continuing Medical Education approved by the American Academy of Physician Assistants, the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education, the American Medical Association, the American Osteopathic Association Council on Continuing Medical Education, or the American Academy of Family Physicians. The remaining 50 hours may be Category II Continuing Medical Education. If not NCCPA certified, the Physician Assistant must be able to produce evidence of the 100 hours of reported CME for the relevant biennium.

(c) As part of every third biennial renewal licensure period, all licensees shall complete two (2) hours of training in domestic violence which includes information on the number of patients in that professional’s practice who are likely to be victims of domestic violence and the number who are likely to be perpetrators of domestic violence, screening procedures for determining whether a patient has any history of being either a victim or a perpetrator of domestic violence, and instruction on how to provide such patients with information on, or how to refer such patients to, resources in the local community, such as domestic violence centers and other advocacy groups, that provide legal aid, shelter, victim counseling, batterer counseling, or child protection services, and which is approved by any state or federal government agency, or nationally affiliated professional association, or any provider of Category I or II American Medical Association Continuing Medical Education. Home study courses approved by the above agencies will be acceptable.

(d) Upon a licensee’s first renewal of licensure, the licensee must document the completion of one hour of Category I American Medical Association Continuing Medical Education which includes the topics of Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome; the modes of transmission, including transmission from healthcare worker to patient and patient to healthcare worker; infection control procedures, including universal precautions; epidemiology of the disease; related infections including TB; clinical management, prevention; and current Florida law on AIDS and its impact on testing, confidentiality of test results, and treatment of patients. Any hours of said CME may also be counted toward the CME license renewal requirements. In order for a course to count as meeting this requirement, licensees practicing in Florida must clearly demonstrate that the course includes Florida law in HIV/AIDS and its impact on testing, confidentiality of test results, and treatment of patients. Only Category I hours shall be accepted.

(e) Completion of two hours of continuing medical education relating to prevention of medical errors which includes a study of root cause analysis, error reduction and prevention, and patient safety, and which is approved by any state or federal government agency, or nationally affiliated professional association, or any provider of Category I or II American Medical Association Continuing Medical Education. One hour of a two hour course which is provided by a facility licensed pursuant to Chapter 395, F.S., for its employees may be used to partially meet this requirement.

(3)(a) For purposes of this rule, risk management means the identification, investigation, analysis, and evaluation of risks and the selection of the most advantageous method of correcting, reducing or eliminating identifiable risks.

(b) Five hours of continuing medical education in the subject area of risk management or medical ethics as designated by the licensee at the time of attendance may be obtained by attending one full day or eight (8) hours, whichever is more, of disciplinary hearings at a regular meeting of the Board of Medicine or the Board of Osteopathic Medicine in compliance with the following:

1. The licensee must sign in with the Executive Director of the Board before the meeting day begins.

2. The licensee must remain in continuous attendance.

3. The licensee must sign out with the Executive Director of the Board at the end of the meeting day or at such other earlier time as affirmatively authorized by the Board. A licensee may receive CME credit in risk management for attending the disciplinary portion of a Board meeting only if he or she is attending on that date solely for that purpose; he or she may not receive such credit if appearing at the Board meeting for another purpose.

(4) Up to 5 hours, per biennium, of continuing education credit may be fulfilled by performing pro bono medical services, for an entity serving the indigent, underserved populations or in areas of critical need within the state where the licensee practices. The standard for determining indigency shall be low-income (no greater than 150% of the federal poverty level) or uninsured persons. Credit shall be given on an hour per hour basis.

(a) The Board approves for credit under this rule, the following entities:

1. The Department of Health,

2. Community and Migrant Health Centers funded under section 330 of the United States Public Health Service Act; and,

3. Volunteer Health Care provider programs contracted to provide uncompensated care under the provisions of Section 766.1115, F.S., with the Department of Health.

(b) For services provided to an entity not specified under this rule, a licensee must apply for prior approval in order to receive credit. In the application for approval, licensees shall disclose the type, nature and extent of services to be rendered, the facility where the services will be rendered, the number of patients expected to be served, and a statement indicating that the patients to be served are indigent. If the licensee intends to provide services in underserved or critical need areas, the application shall provide a brief explanation as to those facts.

(c) Unless otherwise provided through Board order, no licensee who is subject to a disciplinary action that requires additional continuing education as a penalty, shall be permitted to use pro-bono medical services as a method of meeting the additional continuing education requirements.

(5) Upon request by the Board or Department, the licensee must submit satisfactory documentation of compliance with the requirements set forth above.

(6) Additional Education for Physician Assistants with Delegated Prescriptive Privileges. In addition to the requirements of subsection (2), above, all physician assistants with prescritive privileges shall complete a minimum of 10 hours of continuing education in the specialty area(s) of the supervising physician(s), during the previous 2 years. Three of the 10 hours must consist of a continuing education course on the safe and effective prescribing of controlled substance medications which is offered by a statewide professional association of physicians in this state accredited to provide educational activities for the American Medical Association Physician’s Recognition Award Category 1 credit or designated by the American Academy of Physician Assistants as a Category 1 credit, or designated by the American Osteopathic Association as a Category 1-A credit, or designated by the American Osteopathic Association as a Category 1-A credit. These hours may be utilized to meet the general continuing education requirement.

(7) Reactivation of Inactive License. To reactivate a license that has been inactive for two (2) consecutive biennial cycles, the licensee must:

(a) Submit to the Department the original inactive license;

(b) Provide the Department with licensure verification from each state in which the licensee is licensed to practice as a physician assistant, or a statement that the licensee is licensed only in Florida;

(c) Provide to the Department a statement of medical activities from the date the licensee became inactive to the present; or, if the licensee has not practiced as a physician assistant for at least 2 of the 4 years preceding application for reactivation, the licensee must:

1. Submit proof of recertification by NCCPA; and,

2. Practice under the direct supervision of a supervising physician approved by the Council for one (1) year.

(d) Submit to the Department a statement of any criminal or disciplinary actions pending in any jurisdiction;

(e) Submit proof of completion of the continuing medical education requirements in compliance with paragraphs 64B15-6.0035(2)(c), (d), (e) and (f), F.A.C., for each biennium in which the license was inactive;

(f) Pay the appropriate fees.

(8) The renewal and reactivation fees are found in Rule 64B8-30.019 or 64B15-6.013, F.A.C.

(9) The failure of any license holder to renew the license on or before the license expires shall cause the license to become delinquent.

(a) The delinquent status licensee must apply for active or inactive license status during the licensure cycle in which the license becomes delinquent. The failure by the delinquent licensee to become active or inactive before the expiration of the licensure cycle in which the license became delinquent shall render the license null and void without further action by the Board or the Department.

(b) The delinquent status licensee who applies for active or inactive licensure shall:

1. File with the Department the completed application for either active or inactive license status,

2. Pay to the Board the applicable license renewal fee, the delinquency fee, and if applicable, the processing fee; and,

3. If active status is elected, demonstrate compliance with the continuing education requirements found in Rule 64B15-6.0035, F.A.C.

(10) Licensees who are spouses of members of the Armed Forces of the United States shall be exempt from all licensure renewal provisions for any period of time which the licensee is absent from the State of Florida due to the spouse’s duties with the Armed Forces. The licensee must document the absence and the spouse’s military status to the Board in order to obtain the exemption. Upon the licensee’s return to Florida, the licensee must inform the Department of his or her return within 30 days.

(11) Reactivation of a retired status license. To reactivate the license of a retired status licensee whose license has been on retired status for more than five (5) years or a licensee from another state who has not been in the active practice of osteopathic medicine within the past five (5) years shall be required to appear before the Council and establish the ability to practice with the care and skill sufficient to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public. At the time of such appearance, the physician assistant must:

(a) Surrender to the Department the original retired status license;

(b) Provide the Department with licensure verification from each state in which the licensee is licensed to practice as a physician assistant, or a statement that the licensee is licensed only in Florida;

(c) Provide to the Department a statement of medical activities from the date the licensee entered retired status to the present;

(d) Submit proof of recertification by NCCPA;

(e) Practice under the direct supervision of a supervising physician approved by the Council for one (1) year;

(f) Submit proof of completion of the continuing medical education requirements in compliance with paragraphs 64B15-6.0035(2)(c)-(f), F.A.C., for each biennium in which the license was inactive; and,

(g) Pay the appropriate fees set forth in Section 456.036(4)(b), F.S., and subsections 64B15-6.013(6) and (10), F.A.C.

(12) The Department shall refuse to reactivate the license of a retired status physician assistant who is under investigation or prosecution in any jurisdiction for an action that would constitute a violation of this chapter or the professional practice acts administered by the department and the boards, until 15 days after the Department receives the final results of the investigation or prosecution.

Rulemaking Authority 456.013, 456.033(1), 459.005, 459.022 FS. Law Implemented 456.013, 456.031, 459.022(6)(b), (c) FS. History–New 10-28-87, Amended 4-21-88, 1-3-93, Formerly 21R-6.0035, Amended 11-4-93, 3-29-94, Formerly 61F9-6.0035, 59W-6.0035, Amended 6-7-98, 10-16-01, 3-10-02, 7-13-04, 7-27-04, 2-25-07, 11-11-07, 6-2-08, 11-3-09, 1-27-13, 11-13-16, 10-21-20, 3-10-22.