Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 38, September 20, 2024
(a) Where citations include an assessment of
an administrative fine, the fine shall be not less than $50 or exceed $5,000
for each violation. Each violation shall be classified according to the nature
of the violation and shall indicate the classification on the face thereof as
follows:
(1) Class "A" violations shall not
be less than $1,001 nor more than $5,000. Class "A" violations are violations
that the executive officer, or his or her designee, has determined involve a
person who, while engaged in the practice of occupational therapy, has violated
a statute or regulation relating to the Occupational Therapy Practice Act.
Class "A" violations are more serious in nature and may include, but are not
limited to, violations which resulted in or had significant potential for
patient harm and where there is no evidence that revocation or other
disciplinary action is required to ensure public safety. Such violations
include, but are not limited to, failing to provide direct in-sight supervision
of an aide when the aide performed a client related task that resulted in harm
to the patient, or failing to provide adequate supervision to an occupational
therapy assistant that resulted in harm to the patient, or fraudulent medical
billing, or practicing without a current and active license for more than one
year, or functioning autonomously as an occupational therapy assistant. A Class
"A" violation may be issued to a person who has committed a class "B" violation
who has had two or more prior, separate class "B" violations.
(2) Class "B" violations shall not be less
than $501 nor more than $2,500. Class "B" violations are violations that the
executive officer, or his or her designee, has determined involve a person who,
while engaged in the practice of occupational therapy, has violated a statute
or regulation relating to the Occupational Therapy Practice Act. Class "B"
violations are less serious in nature and may include, but are not limited to,
violations which could have resulted in patient harm. Typically some degree of
mitigation will exist. Such violations include, but are not limited to, failing
to provide direct in-sight supervision of an aide when the aide performed a
client related task that did not result in harm to a patient, or failure to
provide adequate supervision to an occupational therapy assistant, limited
permit holder, student, or occupational therapy aid, resulting in no patient
harm, or providing advanced practice services without board approval, or
practicing when the license has been expired or inactive for a period of more
than three months but less than one year, or supervising more occupational
therapy assistants than allowed by law. A class "B" violation may be issued to
a person who has committed a class "C" violation who has two or more prior,
separate class "C" violations.
(3)
Class "C" violations shall not be less than $50 nor more than $1,000. Class "C"
violations are violations that the executive officer, or his or her designee,
has determined involve a person who has violated a statute or regulation
relating to the practice of occupational therapy. A class "C" violation is a
minor or technical violation which is neither directly or potentially
detrimental to patients nor potentially impacts their care. Such violations may
include, but are not limited to, practicing when the license has been expired
or inactive for a period of three months or less, failing to disclose a
conviction or convictions in the application process, or failing to provide a
patient or client or the guardian of a patient or client access to their
medical records pursuant to Health and Safety Code Section
123110.
A class "C" violation may also be issued to a licensee holder who fails to
respond to a written request by the board for additional information relating
to a renewal application.
(4) Class
"D" violations shall not be less than $50 nor more than $250. Class "D"
violations occur when the executive officer, or his or her designee, has
determined that an applicant or licensee has failed to provide a change of
address within 30 days as required by Section
4102. A class "D" violation is a
minor technical violation which is neither directly or potentially detrimental
to patients nor potentially impacts their care.
(b) In determining the amount of an
administrative fine, the executive officer, or his or her designee, shall
consider the following factors:
(1) Gravity of
the violation,
(2) History of
previous violations involving the same or similar conduct,
(3) Length of time that has passed since the
date of the violation,
(4)
Consequences of the violation, including potential for patient harm,
(5) The good or bad faith exhibited by the
cited individual,
(6) Evidence that
the violation was willful,
(7) The
extent to which the individual cooperated with the board's
investigation,
(8) The extent to
which the individual has remediated any knowledge and/or skills
deficiencies,
(9) Any other
mitigating or aggravating factors.
(c) In his or her discretion, the executive
officer, or his or her designee, may issue an order of abatement without
levying a fine for the first violation of any provision set forth in subsection
(a).
(d) The executive officer, or
his or her designee, may assess a fine which shall not exceed five thousand
dollars ($5,000) for each violation if the violation involves fraudulent
billing.
1. New section
filed 8-7-2002; operative 9-6-2002 (Register 2002, No. 32).
2.
Amendment of subsections (a)-(a)(3) and new subsections (a)(4) and (c)-(e)
filed 5-21-2008; operative 6-20-2008 (Register 2008, No. 21).
3.
Amendment of subsections (a)-(a)(4), repealer of subsections (d)-(d)(4),
subsection relettering and amendment of newly designated subsection (d) filed
7-20-2011; operative 8-19-2011 (Register 2011, No. 29).
4. Change
without regulatory effect amending subsections (a)(3)-(4) filed 6-25-2013
pursuant to section
100, title 1, California Code of
Regulations (Register 2013, No. 26).
Note: Authority cited: Sections
125.9,
148
and
2570.20,
Business and Professions Code. Reference: Sections
125.9
and
148,
Business and Professions Code.
