RULE NO: RULE TITLE
64B11-4.003: Standards of Practice; Discipline
The correction is being made in response to comments received from the Joint Administrative Procedures Committee on May 26, 2010. The correction is as follows:
This is an amended summary of the Statement of Estimated Regulatory Costs (SERC).
For the fiscal years of 2008 and 2009, there were 6, 947 occupational therapists and 2,225 occupational therapy assistants licensed in the State of Florida. For fiscal years 2008 and 2009, the agency received 446 occupational therapist applications for licensure and 299 occupational therapy assistant applications for licensure. All licensed occupational therapists, occupational therapy assistants, and applicants for licensure will be required to be familiar with the new disciplinary guidelines (“guidelines”). The guidelines will affect all occupational therapists, occupational therapy assistants, and applicants for licensure who violate them.
The agency will incur rule making costs and costs associated with enforcing the guidelines. Specifically, those costs incurred during each investigations and prosecution of each violator. The agency will also incur costs for compliance monitoring if a penalty is imposed and the violator receives probation or suspension of his/her license.
The proposed changes will have a significant impact on small businesses, especially occupational therapists in private practice that will be unable to continue practicing if they violate certain sections of the guidelines. Similarly, some applicants will be denied licensure for the first offense and will lose the opportunity to acquire any income in the profession.
This correction does not affect the substance of the rule as it appeared in the Florida Administrative Weekly.
THE PERSON TO BE CONTACTED REGARDING THIS CORRECTION IS: Allen Hall, Executive Director, Board of Occupational Therapy/MQA, 4052 Bald Cypress Way, Bin #C05, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-3255