Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 44, November 2, 2024
(a)
Contact hour
requirements. A licensed physical therapist shall satisfy the
following continuing education requirements:
(1) During each biennial renewal period, a
licensee shall complete qualifying continuing education equal to at least 30
contact hours of continuing physical therapy education, including at least 2
contact hours in law or ethics applicable to the practice of physical therapy,
and at least 2 contact hours in child abuse recognition and reporting in
accordance with §
40.208(b)
(relating to child abuse recognition and reporting-mandatory training
requirement).
(2) Except as
permitted in §
40.20(c)(1)
(relating to inactive status of physical therapist license), paragraph (4) or
as directed by the Board, continuing education may satisfy the requirement of
paragraph (1) only for the biennium during which it was completed. A contact
hour of continuing education may not be used to satisfy the requirement of
paragraph (1) for more than 1 biennium.
(3) Unless otherwise excused by the act or
this subchapter, failure to complete the minimum required amount of continuing
education during the applicable renewal period as required under section 7.2 of
the act (63 P.S. §
1307.2) and
this section will subject the licensee to disciplinary action under section
11(a)(6) of the act (63 P.S. §
1311(a)(6)) as provided in
§
40.52(11)
(relating to unprofessional conduct; physical therapists).
(4) The Board may, in individual cases
involving physical disability or illness, or undue hardship, grant a waiver of
the continuing education requirements or grant an extension of time to complete
the requirements. A waiver or extension of time will not be granted unless a
written request is submitted by or on behalf of the licensee. In case of
physical disability or illness, the request must include supporting
documentation provided by a physician licensed in this Commonwealth or another
state or territory of the United States or the District of Columbia and whose
license is in good standing. The necessary documentation must be received by
the Board no later than 90 days preceding the biennial renewal. If the physical
disability or illness or undue hardship for which the waiver has been granted
continues beyond the period of the waiver, the licensee shall reapply for an
extension of the waiver. The Board may, as a condition of a waiver granted,
require the licensee to make up all or part of the continuing education
involved.
(5) A licensee is not
required to complete continuing education during the biennial renewal cycle in
which the licensee was first licensed.
(b)
Reporting completion of
continuing education. Continuing education shall be reported and
documented in the following manner:
(1) In
general, proof of completion of a course or program of continuing education
must consist of a certificate of completion or other documentation issued by
the course or program provider, including:
(i)
The name of the participant.
(ii)
The name of the provider.
(iii) The
date or dates of the course or program.
(iv) The name of the course and any Board
issued approval number of the course or program.
(v) The number of contact hours of continuing
education or academic credit.
(2) A licensee shall retain proof of
completion of continuing education for 5 years after completion of the
continuing education or after the completion of the renewal period during which
the continuing education was required or applied, whichever is later.
(3) The Board will audit licensees to verify
compliance with continuing education requirements. A licensee shall fully
respond to an audit notice within 30 days or other time period allowed in the
notice.
(c)
Credit for approved continuing education. Credit for
continuing education will be determined in accordance with the following:
(1) Credit for continuing education will be
granted only for courses or programs offered by providers preapproved under
subsection (d)(1) or approved by the Board under subsection (d)(2) or for
authoring publications as authorized under subsection (e).
(2) Unless limited by this section,
continuing education credit may be earned in a course or program or authoring a
publication relating to any of the following:
(i) Subject matter falling within the
definition of "physical
therapy" in section 2 of the act (63 P.S. §
1302).
(ii) Subject matter that is part of training
necessary to qualify one for licensure as a physical therapist or certification
of authority to practice physical therapy without a referral.
(iii) Law or ethics applicable to the
practice of physical therapy.
(iv)
Subject matter that otherwise keeps the licensee apprised of advancements and
new developments in the practice of the profession of physical
therapy.
(3) Continuing
education credit may not be earned in a course in office management or practice
building.
(4) A licensee may not
receive credit more than once in a given renewal period for repetition of
courses or programs with substantially similar content and
objectives.
(5) A licensee teaching
a course or program of continuing education may receive the same credit that a
licensee attending the course or program would receive and may also receive
credit for time spent in preparation. Credit for time spent in preparation may
not exceed the credit available for a licensee attending the course or
program.
(6) If a course or program
extends beyond a single biennial renewal period, credit will be awarded in the
period in which the course or program is finally completed.
(d)
Approval of continuing education
courses and programs. Continuing education courses and programs may be
approved in accordance with this subsection.
(1) Provided that the course or program
otherwise meets the requirements in subsection (c)(2) and the provider issues
to each attending licensee a certificate of completion record in accordance
with subsection (b)(1), a course or program of continuing education from a
provider preapproved under this paragraph is approved by the Board.
(i) The following providers are preapproved:
(A) APTA or its components.
(B) FSBPT and its jurisdictions.
(C) A physical therapist or physical
therapist assistant educational program accredited by CAPTE.
(D) The American Heart Association and the
American Red Cross and their component organizations, only for purposes of
providing continuing education in identifying and responding to emergency
health conditions.
(E) An
organization credentialed by APTA to confer a fellowship in a specialty, only
for purposes of conferring the fellowship.
(F) An organization credentialed by APTA to
offer a residency program, only for purposes of the residency
program.
(G) The American Board of
Physical Therapy Specialization or its successor organization, only for
specialty certification.
(H) Any
provider whose course or program is certified by FSBPT's ProCert, approved by
FSBPT or its jurisdictions, or approved by APTA or its components, for those
courses or programs so certified or approved.
(ii) Any other provider seeking preapproved
provider status shall:
(A) Apply to the Board
on forms supplied by the Board.
(B)
Pay the required fee.
(C)
Demonstrate that the provider is competent to provide continuing education to
physical therapists without direct review by the Board.
(iii) The Board may terminate preapproved
provider status if the provider, including the providers in subparagraph (i),
is no longer able to demonstrate that it is competent to provide continuing
education to physical therapists without direct review by the Board. The Board
will audit preapproved providers to assure that the provider complies with the
requirements of this paragraph and paragraph (3).
(iv) The Board will maintain a list of
preapproved providers and make the list publicly available.
(2) A continuing education course
or program offered by a provider not preapproved under paragraph (1) may be
approved as provided in this paragraph.
(i)
The provider shall apply at least 60 days prior to the date the continuing
education course or program is scheduled to take place on forms provided by the
Board and fully provide the information required on the application forms for
the Board to fulfill its duties under this section. The application shall be
submitted to the Board with payment of the fee as required under § 40.5
(relating to fees).
(ii) The
provider shall apply for approval of each course or program of continuing
education, which may include multiple presentations of the course or program at
one or more locations. Unless approved by the Board, a significant change in
content or use of instructors other than those described in the application for
approval is a separate course or program for which Board approval is
required.
(iii) The Board may deny
approval of a course or program of continuing education when the provider has
previously failed or is not currently able to comply with the provider
responsibilities of paragraph (3) or the course or program does not qualify
under subsection (c)(1). The Board may approve in part and deny in part an
application for approval of a course or program. The Board may deny an
application for approval that does not comply with the act or this
chapter.
(iv) The Board may
terminate its prior approval of a course or program of continuing education
when the applicant made one or more false or misleading material statements on
the application. The Board may also terminate in part or in whole its prior
approval of a course or program when it is later determined that the Board has
grounds to deny approval in accordance with this section. Termination of
approval will not forfeit credit for a course or program completed prior to
termination of approval.
(v) The
Board will maintain a list of approved courses and programs in a form
accessible to licensees and the public.
(vi) If the provider has not separately
sought approval under this paragraph, a licensee attending the course or
program may apply for approval of a course or program of continuing education
in accordance with this paragraph. The licensee shall apply for approval prior
to attending the course or program. The Board may waive the requirements in
paragraph (3) when a licensee attending a course or program applies for
approval.
(3) For each
course or program of continuing education, the provider shall:
(i) Disclose in advance to prospective
attendees the objectives, content, teaching method and the number of hours of
continuing education credit approved by the Board.
(ii) Provide physical facilities adequate for
the number of anticipated participants and the teaching methods to be
used.
(iii) Provide accurate
instructional materials.
(iv)
Utilize qualified instructors who are knowledgeable in the subject
matter.
(v) Evaluate the course or
program through the use of questionnaires of the participants and
instructors.
(vi) Issue a
certificate of completion to each participant.
(vii) Retain attendance records, written
outlines and a summary of evaluations for 5 years.
(e)
Authoring
publications. A licensed physical therapist may earn continuing
education credit for authoring publications as provided in this subsection.
(1) Prior to the end of the biennial renewal
period for which credit is sought, the licensed physical therapist shall apply
to the Board on forms provided by the Board and submit the documentation
necessary to establish entitlement to credit.
(2) Subject to the limitations of paragraph
(3), 1 contact hour of continuing education credit will be awarded for each
hour spent in research or writing. Credit will not be awarded if the total
research and writing time was less than 1 hour.
(3) Within the subject matter limitations of
subsection (c), a licensed physical therapist may earn credit for authoring a
publication as follows:
(i) Authoring or
editing a book, not to exceed 15 contact hours.
(ii) Authoring or editing a chapter of a
book, not to exceed 10 contact hours.
(iii) Authoring or reviewing a published
peer-reviewed article, not to exceed 10 contact hours.
(iv) Authoring a non-peer-reviewed article
published in a physical therapy publication, not to exceed 5 contact
hours.
(4) Credit for
authoring a publication will be awarded only for the biennial renewal period in
which it was published.
(f)
Disciplinary action authorized.
Unless otherwise excused by the act or this chapter, failure to
complete the minimum required amount of continuing education during the
applicable renewal period will subject the licensee to discipline under section
12(c) of the act (63 P.S. §
1312(c)) in accordance with
the schedule of civil penalties in §
43b.26 (relating to schedule of
civil penalties-physical therapists and physical therapist assistants). Within
6 months after the issuance of a citation under §
43b.26 for failure to complete the
required amount of continuing education, the licensee shall make up the
deficiency and provide proof, in accordance with subsection (b), of completion
of the entire amount of continuing education required under subsection (a). In
addition to a civil penalty assessed under this subsection, failure to complete
the required amount of continuing education and to provide the Board with proof
of completion of the required amount of continuing education within 6 months
after the issuance of a citation under §
43b.26 will subject the licensee
to disciplinary action under section 11(a)(6) of the act for committing
unprofessional conduct as defined in §
40.52(11). This
subsection does not apply to a licensee who permitted the licensee's license to
expire at the conclusion of a biennial renewal period for which the licensee
did not complete the required amount of continuing education and did not
practice the profession prior to reactivating that license under §
40.20(c) upon a
demonstration that the licensee subsequently completed the required deficient
continuing education.
The provisions of this §40.67 issued under
section 3(a) of the Physical Therapy Practice Act (63 P.S. §
1303(a)); and section 16 of
the act of July 4, 2008 (P.L. 293, No. 38); amended under sections 3(a), 4(a),
6, 7.2, 9.1 and 11(a) of the Physical Therapy Practice Act (63 P.S.
§§
1303(a),
1304(a), 1306, 1307.2, 1309.1
and 1311(a)); and
23 Pa.C.S. §
6383(b)(2).
This section cited in 49 Pa. Code §
40.19 (relating to renewal of
physical therapist license); 49 Pa. Code §
40.20 (relating to inactive status
of physical therapist license); 49 Pa. Code §
40.63 (relating to continuing
education for direct access certificateholder); and 49 Pa. Code §
43b.26 (relating to schedule of
civil penalties-physical therapists and physical therapist
assistants).
