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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to health care practitioner titles and 2
abbreviations; creating s. 456.0393, F.S.; defining 3
the terms "advertisement" and "deceptive or misleading 4
terms or false representation"; specifying which 5
titles and abbreviations health care practitioners may 6
use in their advertisements, communications, and 7
personal identification; requiring health care 8
practitioners to disclose specified information and 9
use only authorized titles and abbreviations in their 10
advertisements; prohibiting health care practitioners 11
from using deceptive or misleading terms or false 12
representations in their advertisements; author izing 13
health care practitioners who treat patients in person 14
to wear a badge or clothing that clearly discloses 15
specified information; requiring certain health care 16
practitioners to prominently display a copy of their 17
license in a conspicuous area of their practices; 18
requiring that the copy of the license be a specified 19
size; providing for denial of licensure and 20
disciplinary action; requiring certain boards, and the 21
Department of Health when there is no board, to adopt 22
rules; providing an effective date. 23
24
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 25
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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Section 1. Section 456.0393, Florida Statutes, is created 27
to read: 28
456.0393 Health care practitioner titles and 29
abbreviations; advertisements, communications, and personal 30
identification.— 31
(1) As used in this section, the term: 32
(a) "Advertisement" means any communication, printed, 33
electronic, or oral, that names a health care practitioner and 34
the practice, profession, or institution in which the 35
practitioner is employed, volunteers, or otherwise provides 36
health care services. The term includes business cards, 37
identification badges, letterhead, patient brochures, e -mails, 38
Internet websites or platforms, audio and video communications, 39
text messages, and any other form of communication. 40
(b) "Deceptive or misleading terms or false 41
representation" means the use of titles, terms, or other words 42
that misstate, falsely describe, falsely hold out, or falsely 43
detail the health care practitioner's professional skills, 44
training, expertise, educat ion, board certification, or 45
licensure, and includes the misappropriation of medical titles 46
and medical specialty titles by nonphysicians. 47
(2) Health care practitioners may use titles and 48
abbreviations in their advertisements, communications, and 49
personal identification, only as follows: 50
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(a) Physicians licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 459 51
may use any of the following titles and abbreviations only as 52
applicable to their license, specialties, and certifications: 53
"M.D.," "D.O.," "doctor," "doctor of m edicine," "medical 54
doctor," "doctor of osteopathic medicine," "physician," 55
"surgeon," "general surgeon," "neurosurgeon," "orthopedic 56
surgeon," "medical resident," "medical intern," 57
"anesthesiologist," "cardiologist," "dermatologist," 58
"endocrinologist," "ga stroenterologist," "general practitioner," 59
"gynecologist," "hematologist," "hospitalist," "intensivist," 60
"internist," "interventional pain medicine physician," 61
"laryngologist," "nephrologist," "neurologist," "obstetrician," 62
"oncologist," "ophthalmologist," "orthopedic surgeon," 63
"orthopedist," "osteopath," "otologist," "otolaryngologist," 64
"otorhinolaryngologist," "pathologist," "pediatrician," "primary 65
care physician," "proctologist," "psychiatrist," "radiologist," 66
"rheumatologist," "rhinologist," and "urolo gist," or any other 67
title, word, abbreviation, description of services or 68
designation, alone or in combination with any other title, to 69
indicate or induce others to believe that he or she is licensed 70
to practice medicine. 71
1. Chiropractic physicians licen sed under chapter 460 may 72
use the titles "chiropractic physician" and "doctor of 73
chiropractic medicine" and may use the abbreviation "D.C." A 74
chiropractic physician who has attained diplomate status in a 75
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chiropractic specialty area recognized by the Americ an 76
Chiropractic Association, the International Chiropractic 77
Association, or the International Academy of Clinical Neurology 78
before July 1, 2025, may use the applicable titles in this 79
paragraph in conjunction with his or her name and title to 80
reflect such specialty area. 81
2. Podiatric physicians licensed under chapter 461 may use 82
any of the following titles and abbreviations only as applicable 83
to their license, specialties, and certifications: "podiatric 84
physician," "doctor of podiatric medicine," "D.P.M.," 85
"podiatrist," "podiatric surgeon," "Fellow in the American 86
College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons," and "F.A.C.F.A.S." 87
3. Dentists licensed under chapter 466 may use any of the 88
following titles and abbreviations only as applicable to their 89
license, specialties, and certifications: "doctor of medicine in 90
dentistry," "doctor of dental medicine," "D.M.D.," "doctor of 91
dental surgery," "D.D.S.," "oral and maxillofacial surgeon," 92
"O.M.S.," "periodontist," "prosthodontist," "endodontist," 93
"pediatric dentist," "orth odontist," "oral pathologist," and 94
"oral radiologist." A dentist who has completed a dental 95
anesthesiology residency recognized by the American Dental Board 96
of Anesthesiology before July 1, 2025, may use the applicable 97
titles in this paragraph in conjuncti on with his or her name and 98
title to reflect such residency training. 99
(b) Registered nurses licensed under part I of chapter 464 100
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may use only the title "registered nurse" and the abbreviation 101
"R.N." 102
(c) Licensed practical nurses licensed under part I o f 103
chapter 464 may use only the title "licensed practical nurse" 104
and the abbreviation "L.P.N." 105
(d) Advanced practice registered nurses licensed under 106
part I of chapter 464 may use only the title "advanced practice 107
registered nurse" or abbreviation "A.P.R. N." and the following 108
role titles and abbreviations, as applicable: 109
1. "Certified registered nurse anesthetist," "nurse 110
anesthetist," and "C.R.N.A." 111
2. "Clinical nurse specialist" and "C.N.S." 112
3. "Certified nurse practitioner" and "C.N.P." 113
4. "Certified nurse midwife" and "C.N.M." 114
5. "Certified psychiatric nurse," "psychiatric mental 115
health advanced practice nurse," and "C.P.N." 116
6. "Autonomous advanced practice registered nurse" and 117
"A.-A.P.R.N." 118
(e) Physician assistants licensed under ch apter 458 or 119
chapter 459 may use only the title "physician assistant" and the 120
abbreviations "P.A." or "P.A. -C." 121
(f) Anesthesiologist assistants licensed under chapter 458 122
or chapter 459 may use only the title "anesthesiologist 123
assistant" or "anesthetist" or the abbreviation "A.A." 124
(g) All other health care practitioners may use only the 125
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titles and abbreviations authorized by their respective practice 126
acts and this paragraph. Any nonphysician health care 127
practitioner who has obtained a doctoral degree un der the 128
profession governed by the applicable practice act may use the 129
letter "D." in front of the abbreviations authorized by the 130
health care practitioner's respective practice act. However, a 131
nonphysician health care practitioner may not use the title 132
"doctor" in any form of advertisement, telehealth interaction, 133
text message, or verbal communication without clearly 134
identifying himself or herself as a "doctor" of a specific 135
profession, citing the applicable chapter under which the health 136
care practitioner is licensed. 137
(3)(a) Any advertisement by a health care practitioner 138
must disclose the type of license under which the health care 139
practitioner is authorized to provide services and must use only 140
those titles and abbreviations authorized under subsection (2). 141
Only physicians may include titles and abbreviations or medical 142
specialties in their advertisements, as specified in paragraph 143
(2)(a). 144
(b) Health care practitioners may not use deceptive or 145
misleading terms or false representation in their 146
advertisements. 147
(4) Health care practitioners who treat patients in person 148
may wear a name badge or other form of identification on their 149
clothing that clearly discloses the practitioner's name, the 150
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practitioner's staff position, if applicable, and the type of 151
license, registration, or certification held by the 152
practitioner. Any title or abbreviation used in such 153
identification must be consistent with the requirements of this 154
section. 155
(5) If a health care practitioner treats patients in a 156
setting other than a h ealth care facility licensed under chapter 157
395 or chapter 400, the health care practitioner must 158
prominently display a copy of his or her license in a 159
conspicuous area of the practice so that it is easily visible to 160
patients. The copy of the license must b e no smaller than the 161
original license. 162
(6) Any violation of this section constitutes grounds for 163
denial of a license or disciplinary action as specified in the 164
health care practitioner's respective practice act and as 165
specified in s. 456.072(2). 166
(7) Each board, or the department where there is no board, 167
shall adopt rules pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 to 168
implement this section. 169
Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023. 170