The Florida Senate

458.309  Rulemaking authority.--

(1)  The board has authority to adopt rules pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 to implement the provisions of this chapter conferring duties upon it.

(2)(a)  Any rules which the board adopts relating to the classroom phase of medical education shall not apply to any person who is enrolled in the classroom phase of medical education or has graduated prior to or at the time the rule becomes effective, so long as such person does not interrupt his or her medical education.

(b)1.  Any rules which the board adopts relating to the clinical clerkship phase of medical education shall not apply to any person who is enrolled in the clinical clerkship phase of medical education prior to or at the time the rule becomes effective, so long as such person does not interrupt his or her medical education.

2.  Rules adopted by the Florida Board of Medical Examiners prior to October 1, 1986, and relating to clinical clerkships for graduates of foreign medical schools do not apply to any such graduate who:

a.  Had completed a clinical clerkship prior to the effective date of the rule; or

b.  Had begun a clinical clerkship but had not completed the clinical clerkship prior to the effective date of the rule, so long as the clinical clerkship took no longer than 3 years to complete.

(c)  Any rules which the board adopts relating to residency shall not apply to any person who has begun his or her residency prior to or at the time the rule becomes effective, so long as such person does not interrupt the residency.

(3)  All physicians who perform level 2 procedures lasting more than 5 minutes and all level 3 surgical procedures in an office setting must register the office with the department unless that office is licensed as a facility pursuant to chapter 395. The department shall inspect the physician's office annually unless the office is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or an accrediting organization subsequently approved by the Board of Medicine. The actual costs for registration and inspection or accreditation shall be paid by the person seeking to register and operate the office setting in which office surgery is performed.

(4)  All privately owned pain-management clinics, facilities, or offices, hereinafter referred to as "clinics," which advertise in any medium for any type of pain-management services, or employ a physician who is primarily engaged in the treatment of pain by prescribing or dispensing controlled substance medications, must register with the department by January 4, 2010, unless that clinic is licensed as a facility pursuant to chapter 395. A physician may not practice medicine in a pain-management clinic that is required to but has not registered with the department. Each clinic location shall be registered separately regardless of whether the clinic is operated under the same business name or management as another clinic. If the clinic is licensed as a health care clinic under chapter 400, the medical director is responsible for registering the facility with the department. If the clinic is not registered pursuant to chapter 395 or chapter 400, the clinic shall, upon registration with the department, designate a physician who is responsible for complying with all requirements related to registration of the clinic. The designated physician shall be licensed under this chapter or chapter 459 and shall practice at the office location for which the physician has assumed responsibility. The department shall inspect the clinic annually to ensure that it complies with rules of the Board of Medicine adopted pursuant to this subsection and subsection (5) unless the office is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency approved by the Board of Medicine. The actual costs for registration and inspection or accreditation shall be paid by the physician seeking to register the clinic.

(5)  The Board of Medicine shall adopt rules setting forth standards of practice for physicians practicing in privately owned pain-management clinics that primarily engage in the treatment of pain by prescribing or dispensing controlled substance medications. Such rules shall address, but need not be limited to, the following subjects:

(a)  Facility operations;

(b)  Physical operations;

(c)  Infection control requirements;

(d)  Health and safety requirements;

(e)  Quality assurance requirements;

(f)  Patient records;

(g)  Training requirements for all facility health care practitioners who are not regulated by another board;

(h)  Inspections; and

(i)  Data collection and reporting requirements.

A physician is primarily engaged in the treatment of pain by prescribing or dispensing controlled substance medications when the majority of the patients seen are prescribed or dispensed controlled substance medications for the treatment of chronic nonmalignant pain. Chronic nonmalignant pain is pain unrelated to cancer which persists beyond the usual course of the disease or the injury that is the cause of the pain or more than 90 days after surgery.

(6)  A privately owned clinic, facility, or office that advertises in any medium for any type of pain-management services or employs one or more physicians who are primarily engaged in the treatment of pain by prescribing or dispensing controlled substances is exempt from the registration provisions in subsection (4) if the majority of the physicians who provide services in the clinic, facility, or office primarily provide surgical services.

History.--ss. 1, 8, ch. 79-302; ss. 2, 3, ch. 81-318; ss. 5, 22, 25, 26, ch. 86-245; s. 4, ch. 91-429; s. 200, ch. 97-103; s. 120, ch. 98-200; s. 92, ch. 99-397; s. 3, ch. 2009-198.