¹455.564  Department; general licensing provisions.--

(1)  Any person desiring to be licensed in a profession within the jurisdiction of the department shall apply to the department in writing to take the licensure examination. The application shall be made on a form prepared and furnished by the department and shall require the social security number of the applicant. The form shall be supplemented as needed to reflect any material change in any circumstance or condition stated in the application which takes place between the initial filing of the application and the final grant or denial of the license and which might affect the decision of the department. In order to further the economic development goals of the state, and notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the department may enter into an agreement with the county tax collector for the purpose of appointing the county tax collector as the department's agent to accept applications for licenses and applications for renewals of licenses. The agreement must specify the time within which the tax collector must forward any applications and accompanying application fees to the department.

²(2)  Before the issuance of any license, the department may charge an initial license fee as determined by rule of the applicable board or, if no such board exists, by rule of the department. Upon receipt of the appropriate license fee, the department shall issue a license to any person certified by the appropriate board, or its designee, as having met the licensure requirements imposed by law or rule. The licensee shall be issued a wallet-size identification card and a wall certificate suitable for conspicuous display, which shall be no smaller than 81/2 inches by 14 inches. The licensee shall surrender to the department the wallet-size identification card and the wall certificate if the licensee's license is suspended or revoked. The department shall promptly return the wallet-size identification card and the wall certificate to the licensee upon reinstatement of a suspended or revoked license.

(3)  The board, or the department when there is no board, may refuse to issue an initial license to any applicant who is under investigation or prosecution in any jurisdiction for an action that would constitute a violation of this part or the professional practice acts administered by the department and the boards, until such time as the investigation or prosecution is complete.

(4)  When any administrative law judge conducts a hearing pursuant to the provisions of chapter 120 with respect to the issuance of a license by the department, the administrative law judge shall submit his or her recommended order to the appropriate board, which shall thereupon issue a final order. The applicant for licensure may appeal the final order of the board in accordance with the provisions of chapter 120.

(5)  A privilege against civil liability is hereby granted to any witness for any information furnished by the witness in any proceeding pursuant to this section, unless the witness acted in bad faith or with malice in providing such information.

(6)  As a condition of renewal of a license, the Board of Medicine, the Board of Osteopathic Medicine, the Board of Chiropractic Medicine, and the Board of Podiatric Medicine shall each require licensees which they respectively regulate to periodically demonstrate their professional competency by completing at least 40 hours of continuing education every 2 years, which may include up to 1 hour of risk management or cost containment and up to 2 hours of other topics related to the applicable medical specialty, if required by board rule. Each of such boards shall determine whether any specific course requirements not otherwise mandated by law shall be mandated and shall approve criteria for, and the content of, any course mandated by such board. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the board, or the department when there is no board, may approve by rule alternative methods of obtaining continuing education credits in risk management. The alternative methods may include attending a board meeting at which a licensee is disciplined, serving as a volunteer expert witness for the department in a disciplinary case, or serving as a member of a probable cause panel following the expiration of a board member's term.

(7)  The respective boards within the jurisdiction of the department may adopt rules to provide for the use of approved videocassette courses, not to exceed 5 hours per subject, to fulfill the continuing education requirements of the professions they regulate. Such rules shall provide for prior board approval of the criteria for and content of such courses and shall provide for a videocassette course validation form to be signed by the vendor and the licensee and submitted to the department, along with the license renewal application, for continuing education credit.

(8)  Any board that currently requires continuing education for renewal of a license shall adopt rules to establish the criteria for continuing education courses. The rules may provide that up to a maximum of 25 percent of the required continuing education hours can be fulfilled by the performance of pro bono services to the indigent or to underserved populations or in areas of critical need within the state where the licensee practices. The board, or the department if there is no board, must require that any pro bono services be approved in advance in order to receive credit for continuing education under this subsection. The standard for determining indigency shall be that recognized by the Federal Poverty Income Guidelines produced by the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The rules may provide for approval by the board, or the department if there is no board, that a part of the continuing education hours can be fulfilled by performing research in critical need areas or for training leading to advanced professional certification. The board, or the department if there is no board, may make rules to define underserved and critical need areas. The department shall adopt rules for administering continuing education requirements adopted by the boards or the department if there is no board.

(9)  Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, an elected official who is licensed under a practice act administered by the Division of Health Quality Assurance may hold employment for compensation with any public agency concurrent with such public service. Such dual service must be disclosed according to any disclosure required by applicable law.

(10)  In any instance in which a licensee or applicant to the department is required to be in compliance with a particular provision by, on, or before a certain date, and if that date occurs on a Saturday, Sunday, or a legal holiday, then the licensee or applicant is deemed to be in compliance with the specific date requirement if the required action occurs on the first succeeding day which is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday.

(11)  Pursuant to the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, each party is required to provide his or her social security number in accordance with this section. Disclosure of social security numbers obtained through this requirement shall be limited to the purpose of administration of the Title IV-D program for child support enforcement.

History.--s. 44, ch. 92-33; s. 1, ch. 93-27; s. 23, ch. 93-129; s. 27, ch. 95-144; s. 2, ch. 96-309; s. 209, ch. 96-410; s. 1079, ch. 97-103; s. 64, ch. 97-170; s. 51, ch. 97-261; s. 54, ch. 97-278; ss. 7, 237, 262, ch. 98-166.

¹Note.--

A.  Section 103, ch. 97-261, provides that "[t]he Secretary of Health shall appoint a task force to develop uniform procedures to standardize the validation of health care practitioner credentials in order to ensure that once credentials are validated they can be accepted by licensed health care providers and facilities throughout the state. The task force shall include, but not be limited to, representatives from the Florida Hospital Association, the Florida League of Hospitals, the Florida Medical Association, the Florida Osteopathic Medical Association, the Florida Dental Association, the Florida Health Care Association, the Florida Association for the Homes for the Aging, the Florida Association of Health Maintenance Organizations, and the Florida Association of Managed Care Organizations."

B.  Section 2, ch. 98-226, provides that "[t]he Secretary of Health shall reappoint the task force appointed under section 103 of chapter 97-261, Laws of Florida. The reappointed task force shall develop procedures to expand the standardized credentialing program under section 455.557, Florida Statutes, as created by this act, to include site visits."

²Note.--As amended by s. 262, ch. 98-166. For a description of treatment of multiple provisions in the same session affecting a statutory provision, see preface to the Florida Statutes 1997, p. viii. Subsection (2) was also amended by s. 237, ch. 98-166, and that version reads:

(2)  Before the issuance of any license, the department may charge an initial license fee as determined by rule of the applicable board or, if no such board exists, by rule of the department. Upon receipt of the appropriate license fee, the department shall issue a license to any person certified by the appropriate board, or its designee, as having met the licensure requirements imposed by law or rule. The license shall consist of a wallet-size identification card, a 3-inch by 5-inch certificate, and an 8 1/2-inch by 13-inch wall certificate suitable for conspicuous display.