Physical Therapy Board of California.

(1) Existing law, the Physical Therapy Practice Act, provides for the licensure, approval, and regulation of physical therapists and physical therapist assistants by the Physical Therapy Board of California within the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law, until January 1, 2014, requires the board to enforce and administer the act and authorizes the board to appoint an executive officer. A violation of the act is a crime. This bill would revise and recast those provisions. Among other things, the bill would extend, until January 1, 2018, the board's authority to enforce and administer the act and to appoint an executive officer. The bill would provide for the licensure of physical therapist assistants and impose additional requirements and authority on the board, including to enter into contracts for services necessary for enforcement of the act. The bill would revise the composition of the board and prescribe the duties of the board. The bill would authorize the board, by regulation, to prescribe, amend, or repeal any rules contained within a code of professional conduct appropriate to the establishment and maintenance of integrity and dignity in the profession of physical therapy. The bill would provide exemptions from the licensure requirements for students and physical therapists licensed in other jurisdictions, as specified. The bill would also make related, technical changes. This bill would also expand the acts that constitute unprofessional conduct to include, among other things, practicing or offering to practice beyond the scope of practice of physical therapy and unlawful possession, use, or conviction of a criminal offense involving a controlled substance. The bill would impose a civil penalty upon a licensee who fails to, or refuses to, comply with a request from the board for the medical records of a patient, as specified. By revising the definition of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law establishes in the Department of Justice the Health Quality Enforcement Section, the primary responsibility of which is to prosecute proceedings against licensees and applicants within the jurisdiction of the Medical Board of California, the California Board of Podiatric Medicine, the Board of Psychology, or any committee under the jurisdiction of the Medical Board of California, and to provide ongoing review of the investigative activities conducted in support of those prosecutions. Existing law requires that the funding of the Section be from the special funds financing the operations of those boards and the committees under the jurisdiction of the Medical Board of California, with the intent that the expenses be proportionally shared as to services rendered. This bill would additionally include within the primary responsibility of the Section prosecution of proceedings against those licensees and applicants within the jurisdiction of the Physical Therapy Board of California. The bill would also require a proportional share of the funding for the Section to be budgeted from the special funds financing the operation of the Physical Therapy Board of California, which are continuously appropriated, thereby making an appropriation. (3) The bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 2660 of the Business and Professions Code proposed by AB 1000 that would become operative if this bill and AB 1000 are enacted and this bill is chaptered last. (4) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.