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Ex. AGY-ST-HEALTH-BOARDS-001 Order Primary source read

DOH Emergency Order 20-002

In re: Suspension of Statutes, Rules and Orders, Made Necessary by COVID-19 (out-of-state practitioners; out-of-state telehealth; controlled-substance renewals by telehealth; medical-marijuana recertification by telehealth; EMS training; pharmacy distribution limits suspended)

Scott A. Rivkees, M.D., State Surgeon General, Florida Department of Health · Florida Department of Health, Office of the State Surgeon General (State licensing authority for the health professions through its Division of Medical Quality Assurance and the Boards of Medicine, Osteopathic Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Optometry, Chiropractic Medicine, Physical Therapy Practice, Occupational Therapy Practice, Psychology, Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling, and Massage Therapy); State level (Sector regulator)

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The record

Jurisdiction
Florida Department of Health, Office of the State Surgeon General (State licensing authority for the health professions through its Division of Medical Quality Assurance and the Boards of Medicine, Osteopathic Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Optometry, Chiropractic Medicine, Physical Therapy Practice, Occupational Therapy Practice, Psychology, Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling, and Massage Therapy); State level · Florida
Level
Sector regulator
Authority
Executive Order 20-52 § 4.B; Fla. Stat. § 252.36(5)(a)
Issued
2020-03-16 Mar. 16, 2020
Effective
2020-03-16 (thirty days unless extended) (read as 2020-03-16)
End
Extended by DOH EO 20-007 to May 31, 2020, by DOH EO 20-009 to June 30, 2020, and by DOH EO 20-011 until the expiration of Executive Order 20-52 (which expired June 26, 2021) (read as 2021-06-30)
In force
Mar. 16, 2020 to June 30, 2021
Quarters
2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q2
Limitation types
Health care ordersOther
Addressees
  • health care professionals licensed in other States
  • Florida physicians, osteopathic physicians, physician assistants and APRNs
  • qualified physicians under § 381.986
  • EMS training programs
  • pharmacies and drug distributors
Functions reached
  • TM telehealth under waivers (out-of-state practitioners; controlled-substance renewals; audio-visual substitution for physical examination)
  • HR credentialing (out-of-state licensees practising in Florida without a Florida license for 30 days, extended)
  • PR procedures and elective visits (in-person examination requirement lifted for recertifications and renewals)
  • SC pharmacy distribution (chs. 465 and 499 limits on distribution and dispensing suspended)
  • CB patients
Collection
State health licensing boards AGY-ST-HEALTH-BOARDS

Operative words

For purposes of preparing for, responding to, and mitigating any effect of COVID-19, health care professionals not licensed in this state may provide health care services to a patient licensed in this state using telehealth, notwithstanding the requirements of section 456.47(4)(a) through (c), (h), and (i), Florida Statutes, for a period not to exceed 30 days unless extended by order of the State Surgeon General.... physicians, osteopathic physicians, physician assistants, and advanced practice registered nurses licensed in Florida that have designated themselves as a controlled substance prescribing practitioner pursuant to section 456.44, may issue a renewal prescription for a controlled substance listed as Schedule II, Schedule III, or Schedule IV under chapter 893 only for an existing patient for the purpose of treating chronic nonmalignant pain without the need to conduct a physical examination of the patient. These practitioners may only substitute telehealth services for the physical examination.... Any statute and/or rule to the contrary is hereby suspended for a period of thirty days, unless extended.

Enforcement

Fla. Stat. § 456.072(1)(q) (violating a lawful order of the department or a board is grounds for discipline); § 252.50 (violation of an order under the Emergency Management Act is a second-degree misdemeanor); the order recites that §§ 252.46 and 120.54(4) do not apply

Notes

First of the Florida DOH emergency orders for the licensed health professions; the telehealth and out-of-state-practice provisions were the platform on which the Boards of Medicine, Nursing, Psychology and the behavioral-health boards operated for fifteen months; extended in three steps (Exs. 006, 008, 010) to the June 26, 2021 expiration of EO 20-52

Retrieval note

Executed March 16, 2020. Text read in full (1,087 words).

A record of The COVID Project. The instrument's text is the source's; the summary fields are The COVID Project's reading of it. Not legal advice.