Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 3, March 22, 2024
A. Unprofessional Acts. The
following acts or activities by a licensee of this Board constitute
unprofessional, unethical or illegal conduct and grounds for
disciplinary action. The following acts are not to be considered
all-inclusive and are subject to revisions and additions necessary to
carry out the Board's purpose of protecting the health, safety and
welfare of the public.
(1)
Limitation of Practice. Persons licensed by the Board shall be
limited to:
(a) the care and
performance of therapeutic or hygienic treatment of
patients;
(b) the x-ray
of patients; and
(c) such
other procedures as are generally used in the practice of
chiropractic.
(2) Such other procedures as are
generally used in the practice of chiropractic shall be limited to:
(a) the use of diagnostic and
therapeutic procedures;
(b) the adjustment and manipulation
of articulations;
(c) the
treatment of inter-segmental disorders for alleviation of related
neurological, muscular, and osseous joint complex
aberrations.
(3) Patient care shall be conducted
with due regard for environmental, hygiene, sanitation,
rehabilitation and physiological therapeutic procedures designed to
assist in the restoration and maintenance of neurological and osseous
integrity.
(4) Diagnostic
or therapeutic procedures shall not include the use of:
(a) drugs;
(b) surgery;
(c) cauterization;
(d) desiccation or coagulation of
tissues;
(e) rectal
examinations;
(f)
gynecological examinations;
(g) obstetrics;
(h) catheterization with a
needle;
(i) injecting of
dyes for radiological procedures;
(j) lumbar puncture to obtain
spinal fluid;
(k)
treatment of cancer or x-ray therapy.
(5) Fraud or deceit in applying for
a license or in taking an examination.
(6) Making misleading, deceptive,
untrue or fraudulent representations or communications in the
practice of chiropractic.
(7) Unprofessional conduct, gross
incompetence, negligence or misconduct in the practice of
chiropractic.
(8)
Disobedience to a lawful rule or order of the Board.
(9) Practicing while license is
suspended or lapsed.
(10)
Being convicted of a felony or misdemeanor.
(11) Having a license to practice
chiropractic suspended, revoked or refused or receiving other
disciplinary actions by the proper chiropractic licensing authority
of another state, territory, possession or country.
(12) Being unable to practice
chiropractic with reasonable skill and safety to patients by reason
of illness, drunkenness, excessive use of drugs, narcotics, chemicals
or any other type of material, or as a result of any mental or
physical condition. In enforcing this paragraph, the Board shall,
upon probable cause, have authority to compel a chiropractor to
submit to a mental or physical examination by physicians approved by
the Board.
(13) Knowingly
aiding, assisting, procuring or advising any unlicensed person to
practice chiropractic contrary to this act or regulations of the
Board.
(14) Committing
immoral or unprofessional conduct. Unprofessional conduct shall
include any departure from, or failure to conform to, the standards
of acceptable and prevailing chiropractic practice. Actual injury to
a patient need not be established.
(15) Improper charges, fraud.
Improper charges constitute a form of fraudulent and deceptive
practice. Improper charges or fraud may include, but are not limited
to: Intentionally submitting to any third-party payor a claim for a
service or treatment which was not actually provided to a
patient.
(16) A
chiropractor shall not receive payment, commission, or any type of
gratuity for referral of patients.
B. X-ray and Patient Records
Release.
(1) A patient or the
patient's legal representative has a right to receive a copy of
patient records and x-rays, or have the records transferred, upon
written request, when accompanied by a written authorization from the
patient or patient's representative to release the record and to
receive these records within fourteen (14) calendar days of the date
of request.
(2) A
chiropractor may rely on the representations of a health and life
insurance carrier or administrator of health and life insurance
claims that the authorization of the patient or of a person upon
whose status the patient's claim depends for release of the record is
on file with the carrier as an authorization to release medical
information.
(3) Unpaid
charges incurred by the patient are not grounds for refusal to
release records.
(4) A
chiropractor may charge reasonable costs for copying patient records
not to exceed those found in statute.
C. Closure of or departure from a
chiropractic practice.
(1) In
accordance with 25-6(F), when departing or closing a chiropractic
practice, current and former patients and the Board must be notified
by written or electronic mail correspondence a minimum of sixty (60)
days prior to the closure. The notice must include:
(a) the office closing
date;
(b) where records
will be stored;
(c) how
to obtain records;
(d) a
release of information form
(e) deadline for submitting records
request; and
(f)
information on how to contact a new chiropractor/healthcare
provider.
(2)
An announcement should be placed in the local newspaper of the
closure at least sixty (60) calendar days prior to the
closure.
D. In
the event the chiropractor chooses to terminate the relationship with
the patient and no longer plans to provide or render professional
services, the patient shall be notified in writing by certified mail
at his or her last known address. The chiropractor shall offer the
patient a referral to seek other care and the ability to obtain his
or her records.
E.
Specialty Certification. Practitioners may not advertise or hold
themselves out as a specialist or specializing in any activity unless
the practitioner is certified from:
(1) a specialty council approved by
the American Chiropractic Association or International Chiropractors
Association;
(2) a
specialty taught by a chiropractic college accredited by the Council
on Chiropractic Education, or its equivalent specialty board or
council; or
(3) a
specialty approved by the Board.
F. Chiropractic Records. A
practitioner must keep written chiropractic records justifying the
course of treatment of the patient for a minimum of ten (10) years
for adult patients and at least thirteen (13) years for minors. These
minimum record-keeping periods begin on the last date of
treatment.
G. Contagious
and Infectious Diseases. In all cases of known or suspected
contagious or infectious diseases occurring within this State, the
attending practitioner shall report such disease to the county health
department within twenty-four (24) hours, stating the name and
address of the patient and the nature of the disease.
(1) The Department of Health and
Environmental Control shall designate the diseases it considers
contagious and infectious.
(2) Any practitioner who fails to
comply with this provision is subject to penalties imposed by the
appropriate health department.
