Florida Senate - 2023 CS for SB 230 By the Committee on Health Policy; and Senator Harrell 588-02142-23 2023230c1 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to health care practitioner titles and 3 designations; creating s. 456.0651, F.S.; defining 4 terms; providing that, for specified purposes, the use 5 of specified titles or designations in connection with 6 ones name constitutes the practice of medicine or the 7 practice of osteopathic medicine; providing 8 exceptions; amending s. 456.072, F.S.; revising 9 grounds for disciplinary action relating to a 10 practitioners use of such titles or designations in 11 identifying himself or herself to patients or in 12 advertisements for health care services; revising 13 applicability; requiring certain health care 14 practitioners to prominently display a copy of their 15 license in a conspicuous area of their practices; 16 requiring that the copy of the license be a specified 17 size; requiring such health care practitioners to also 18 verbally identify themselves in a specified manner to 19 new patients; requiring, rather than authorizing, 20 certain boards, or the Department of Health if there 21 is no board, to adopt certain rules; providing an 22 effective date. 23 24 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 25 26 Section 1.Section 456.0651, Florida Statutes, is created 27 to read: 28 456.0651Health care practitioner titles and designations. 29 (1)As used in this section, the term: 30 (a)Advertisement means any printed, electronic, or oral 31 statement that: 32 1.Is communicated or disseminated to the general public; 33 2.a.Is intended to encourage a person to use a 34 practitioners professional services or to promote those 35 services or the practitioner in general; or 36 b.For commercial purposes, names a practitioner in 37 connection with the practice, profession, or institution in 38 which the practitioner is employed, volunteers, or provides 39 health care services; and 40 3.Is prepared, communicated, or disseminated under the 41 control of the practitioner or with the practitioners consent. 42 (b)Educational degree means the degree awarded to a 43 practitioner by a college or university relating to the 44 practitioners profession or specialty designation which may be 45 referenced in an advertisement by name or acronym. 46 (c)Misleading, deceptive, or fraudulent representation 47 means any information that misrepresents or falsely describes a 48 practitioners profession, skills, training, expertise, 49 educational degree, board certification, or licensure. 50 (d)Profession means the name or title of a 51 practitioners profession that is regulated by the department in 52 the Division of Medical Quality Assurance and which is allowed 53 to be used by an individual due to his or her license, license 54 by endorsement, certification, or registration issued by a board 55 or the department. The term does not include a practitioners 56 license or educational degree. 57 (2)For purposes of this section and s. 456.065, in 58 addition to the definition of practice of medicine in s. 59 458.305 and the definition of practice of osteopathic medicine 60 in s. 459.003, the practice of medicine or osteopathic medicine 61 also includes attaching to ones name, either alone or in 62 combination, or in connection with other words, any of the 63 following titles or designations, if used in an advertisement or 64 in a manner that constitutes a misleading, deceptive, or 65 fraudulent representation: 66 (a)Doctor of medicine. 67 (b)M.D. 68 (c)Doctor of osteopathy. 69 (d)D.O. 70 (e)Physician. 71 (f)Emergency physician. 72 (g)Family practice physician. 73 (h)Interventional pain physician. 74 (i)Medical doctor. 75 (j)Osteopath. 76 (k)Osteopathic medical physician. 77 (l)Surgeon. 78 (m)Anesthesiologist. 79 (n)Cardiologist. 80 (o)Dermatologist. 81 (p)Endocrinologist. 82 (q)Gastroenterologist. 83 (r)Gynecologist. 84 (s)Hematologist. 85 (t)Internist. 86 (u)Laryngologist. 87 (v)Nephrologist. 88 (w)Neurologist. 89 (x)Obstetrician. 90 (y)Oncologist. 91 (z)Ophthalmologist. 92 (aa)Orthopedic surgeon. 93 (bb)Orthopedist. 94 (cc)Otologist. 95 (dd)Otolaryngologist. 96 (ee)Otorhinolaryngologist. 97 (ff)Pathologist. 98 (gg)Pediatrician. 99 (hh)Primary care physician. 100 (ii)Proctologist. 101 (jj)Psychiatrist. 102 (kk)Radiologist. 103 (ll)Rheumatologist. 104 (mm)Rhinologist. 105 (nn)Urologist. 106 (3)Notwithstanding subsection (2): 107 (a)A licensed practitioner may use the name or title of 108 his or her profession which is authorized under his or her 109 practice act, and any corresponding designations or initials so 110 authorized, to describe himself or herself and his or her 111 practice. 112 (b)A licensed practitioner who has a specialty area of 113 practice authorized under his or her practice act may use the 114 following format to identify himself or herself or describe his 115 or her practice: ...(name or title of the practitioners 116 profession)..., specializing in ...(name of the practitioners 117 specialty).... 118 (c)A chiropractic physician licensed under chapter 460 may 119 use the titles chiropractic physician and doctor of 120 chiropractic medicine and other titles or designations 121 authorized under his or her practice act. 122 (d)A podiatric physician licensed under chapter 461 may 123 use the following titles and abbreviations as applicable to his 124 or her license, specialty, and certification: podiatric 125 physician, podiatric surgeon, and other titles or 126 abbreviations authorized under his or her practice act. 127 (e)A dentist licensed under chapter 466 may use the 128 following titles and abbreviations as applicable to his or her 129 license, specialty, and certification: doctor of medicine in 130 dentistry, doctor of dental medicine, D.M.D., doctor of 131 dental surgery, D.D.S., oral and maxillofacial surgeon, 132 O.M.S., oral radiologist, and any other titles or 133 abbreviations authorized under his or her practice act. 134 (f)An anesthesiologist assistant licensed under chapter 135 458 or chapter 459 may use only the titles anesthesiologist 136 assistant or certified anesthesiologist assistant and the 137 abbreviation C.A.A. 138 Section 2.Paragraph (t) of subsection (1) of section 139 456.072, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 140 456.072Grounds for discipline; penalties; enforcement. 141 (1)The following acts shall constitute grounds for which 142 the disciplinary actions specified in subsection (2) may be 143 taken: 144 (t)1.A practitioners failure, when treating or consulting 145 with a patient, Failing to identify through written notice, 146 which may include the wearing of a name tag the practitioners 147 name and, or orally to a patient the profession, as defined in 148 s. 456.0651, type of license under which the practitioner is 149 practicing. The information on the name tag must be consistent 150 with the specifications of s. 456.0651(2) such that it does not 151 constitute the unlicensed practice of medicine or osteopathic 152 medicine. 153 2.The failure of any advertisement for health care 154 services naming the practitioner to must identify the 155 profession, as defined in s. 456.0651, under which the 156 practitioner is practicing and the practitioners educational 157 degree, as defined in s. 456.0651, in relation to the services 158 featured in the advertisement type of license the practitioner 159 holds. 160 3.Subparagraph 1. This paragraph does not apply to a 161 practitioner while the practitioner is providing services in his 162 or her own office that houses his or her practice or group 163 practice. In such a case, in lieu of a name tag, the 164 practitioner must prominently display a copy of his or her 165 license in a conspicuous area of the practice so that it is 166 easily visible to patients. The copy of the license must be no 167 smaller than the original license. The practitioner must also 168 verbally identify himself or herself to a new patient by name 169 and identify the profession, as defined in s. 456.0651, under 170 which the practitioner is practicing. Such verbal identification 171 must be consistent with the specifications of s. 456.0651(2) 172 such that it does not constitute the unlicensed practice of 173 medicine or osteopathic medicine a facility licensed under 174 chapter 394, chapter 395, chapter 400, or chapter 429. 175 4.Each board, or the department if where there is no 176 board, shall is authorized by rule to determine how its 177 practitioners must may comply with this paragraph disclosure 178 requirement. 179 Section 3.This act shall take effect July 1, 2023.