Report Title:

Occupational Therapists; Licensure

Description:

Replaces current system of occupational therapist (O.T.) regulation with new regulatory scheme that requires a license to use the O.T. designation. Repeals law on July 1, 2005. (SD2)

 

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

591

TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2001

S.D. 2

STATE OF HAWAII

  

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

relating to occupational therapists.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The purpose of this Act is to provide for the regulation of persons offering occupational therapy services to:

(1) Safeguard the public health, safety, and welfare;

(2) Protect those seeking occupational therapy services from incompetent and unscrupulous persons, and persons unauthorized to perform these services;

(3) Assure the highest degree of professional conduct on the part of occupational therapists; and

(4) Assure the availability of occupational therapy services of high quality.

SECTION 2. The Hawaii Revised Statutes is amended by adding a new chapter to title 25 to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"CHAPTER

OCCUPATIONAL THERAPISTS

§ -1 Definitions. As used in this chapter:

"Assessment" means the use of skilled observation or evaluation by the administration and interpretation of standardized or nonstandardized tests and measurements to identify areas for occupational therapy services.

"Department" means the department of commerce and consumer affairs.

"Director" means the director of commerce and consumer affairs.

"Occupational therapist" means a person licensed to practice occupational therapy under this chapter.

"Occupational therapy" means the use of purposeful activity or interventions designed to achieve functional outcomes which promote health, prevent injury or disability, and which develop, improve, sustain, or restore the highest possible level of independence of any individual who has an injury, illness, cognitive impairment, psychosocial dysfunction, mental illness, developmental or learning disability, physical disability, or other disorder or condition.

"Occupational therapy service":

(1) Includes:

(A) The assessment and provision of treatment in consultation with the individual, family, or other appropriate persons;

(B) Interventions directed toward developing, improving, ascertaining, or restoring daily living skills, including self-care skills and activities that involve interactions with others and the environment, work readiness or work performance, play skills or leisure capacities, or enhancing educational performance skills;

(C) Developing, improving, sustaining, or restoring sensorimotor, oral-motor, perceptual, or neuromuscular functioning; or emotional, motivational, cognitive, or psychosocial components of performance; and

(D) Education of the individual, family, or other appropriate persons in carrying out appropriate interventions.

(2) The services in paragraph (1) may encompass assessment of need, including:

(A) Design, development, adaptation, application, or training in the use of assistive technology devices;

(B) Design, fabrication, or application of rehabilitative technology such as selected orthotic devices;

(C) Training in the use of orthotic or prosthetic devices;

(D) The application of physical agent modalities as an adjunct to, or in preparation for, purposeful activity;

(E) The application of ergonomic principles, and the adaptation of environments and processes to enhance functional performance; and

(F) The promotion of health and wellness.

"Supervision" means, in the context of "general supervision," at least monthly direct contact with supervision available as needed, and, in the context of "direct supervision," daily, direct contact at the site of work.

§ -2 Occupational therapist licensing program. There is established an occupational therapist licensing program within the department to be administered by the director.

§ -3 Powers and duties of the director. In addition to any other powers and duties authorized by law, the director shall have the following powers and duties:

(1) Grant permission to a person to use the title of "occupational therapist" in this State pursuant to this chapter and the rules adopted pursuant thereto;

(2) Adopt, amend, or repeal rules pursuant to chapter 91 as the director finds necessary to carry out this chapter;

(3) Administer, coordinate, and enforce this chapter and rules adopted pursuant thereto;

(4) Discipline a licensed occupational therapist for any cause described by this chapter or for any violation of the rules, and refuse to license a person for failure to meet licensing requirements or for any cause that would be grounds for disciplining a licensed occupational therapist; and

(5) Appoint an advisory committee consisting of licensed occupational therapists to assist with the implementation of this chapter and the rules adopted pursuant thereto.

§ -4 License required. No person shall purport to be an "occupational therapist" or "licensed occupational therapist" or use the letters "O.T." in connection with the person's name, or use any words or symbols indicating or tending to indicate that the person is an occupational therapist without meeting the applicable requirements and holding a license as set forth in this chapter.

§ -5 Persons and practices not affected. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as preventing or restricting the practice, services, or activities of:

(1) Any person licensed in this State by any other law from engaging in the profession or occupation for which the person is licensed;

(2) Any person employed as an occupational therapist by the government of the United States or any of its agencies, if the person provides occupational therapy solely under the director or control of the organization by which the person is employed;

(3) Any person pursuing a supervised course of study leading to a degree in occupational therapy at an accredited or approved educational program, if the person is designated by a title which clearly indicates the person's status as a student or trainee;

(4) Any person fulfilling the supervised fieldwork experience requirements for a baccalaureate degree in occupational therapy;

(5) Any person licensed or otherwise regulated by state law to practice occupational therapy by another state who performs occupational therapy as part of an educational demonstration or instructional program or seminar sponsored by an educational institution, hospital, medical care program, the Hawaii chapter of the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc., or any other similar person or group for the duration of the program or seminar and confined to the purpose of the program or seminar; or

(6) Any person employed in a civil service position as an occupational therapist by the department of health; provided that the person shall have met the requirement of section -6(2) and become licensed within twelve months from the effective date of this chapter.

§ -6 Licensing requirements. In addition to the licensing requirements provided by section 436B-10, the director shall require the following as minimum evidence that an applicant is qualified to be licensed:

(1) The applicant holds a baccalaureate degree or higher from a college or university in an occupational therapy educational program accredited by the American Occupational Therapy Association Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education recognized by the United States Department of Education; and

(2) The applicant has passed the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy, Inc. examination, and within five years prior to application, completed nine hundred sixty hours of clinical practice in occupational therapy services verified by a licensed health care professional.

§ -7 Licensure by endorsement. The director may waive the education, examination, and clinical practice requirements and grant a license to an applicant who presents proof of current unrestricted licensure as an occupational therapist in another state, the District of Columbia, or a territory of the United States that requires standards for licensure that are equivalent or higher than the requirements of this chapter.

§ -8 Foreign trained applicants. Occupational therapists trained outside the United States may be eligible to sit for the licensing examination; provided the National Board deems the applicant's education equivalent to the requirements of this chapter by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy, Inc.

§ -9 Issuance of license. The director shall issue a license to any person who meets the requirements of this chapter, upon payment of the prescribed license fee.

§ -10 Renewal of license. (a) Every license issued under this chapter shall be renewed biennially on or before June 30, with the first renewal deadline occurring on June 30, 2004. Failure to renew a license shall result in a forfeiture of the license. Licenses which have been forfeited may be restored within one year of the expiration date upon payment of renewal and penalty fees. Failure to restore a forfeited license within one year of the date of its expiration shall result in the automatic termination of the license and relicensure may be subject to the person applying as a new applicant and satisfying again all licensing requirements.

(b) Upon request, the director may grant inactive status to a licensee.

§ -11 Fees; disposition. (a) Application, examination, reexamination, license, renewal, late renewal penalty fees, inactive, and other reasonable and necessary fees relating to administration of this chapter, none of which are refundable, shall be provided in rules adopted by the director pursuant to chapter 91.

(b) Fees assessed shall defray all costs to be incurred by the director to support the operation of the occupational therapist licensing program. Fees collected shall be managed in accordance with section 26-9(l).

§ -12 Revocation, suspension, denial, or condition of licenses; fines. In addition to any other acts or conditions provided by law the director may refuse to renew, reinstate, or restore, or may deny, revoke, suspend, or condition in any manner any license for any one or more of the following acts or conditions on the part of the applicant or licensee:

(1) Obtaining a license by means of fraud, misrepresentation, or concealment of material facts;

(2) Being guilty of unprofessional conduct as defined by rule, or violating the code of ethics of the American Occupational Therapy Association;

(3) Being convicted of a crime except for petty misdemeanors, violations, or offenses;

(4) Violating any lawful order or rule rendered or adopted by the director; and

(5) Violating any provision of this chapter.

§ -13 Prohibited acts; penalties. (a) No person shall:

(1) Use in connection with the person's name any designation tending to imply that the person is a licensed occupational therapist unless the person is a duly licensed occupational therapist authorized under this chapter; or

(2) Represent oneself as a licensed occupational therapist during the time the person's license issued under this chapter is forfeited, inactive, terminated, suspended, or revoked.

(b) Any person who violates this section shall be subject to a fine of not more than $1,000 and each day's violation shall be deemed a separate offense.

§ -14 Occupational therapy support personnel. The practice of occupational therapy by a licensed occupational therapist may be supplemented by the use of occupational therapy support personnel including:

(1) Persons who use the title "occupational therapy assistant" and who have completed a post secondary program for occupational therapy assistant accredited by the American Occupational Therapy Association Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education; provided a licensed occupational therapist maintains general supervision over the occupational therapy assistant; and

(2) Any other persons; provided there is direct supervision by a licensed occupational therapist or an occupational therapy assistant, as defined above. In no event shall these persons be permitted to:

(A) Interpret referrals or prescriptions for occupational therapy services;

(B) Interpret or analyze evaluation data;

(C) Develop, plan, adjust, or modify treatment plans;

(D) Act on behalf of the licensed occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant in any matter related to direct patient/client care which requires judgment or decision-making;

(E) Act independently without the direct supervision of a licensed occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant; and

(F) Document services represented as occupational therapy."

SECTION 3. Chapter 457G, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval; provided that sections 2 and 3 shall take effect on July 1, 2020, and shall be repealed on July 1, 2005.