RULES AND REGULATIONS
Title 49—PROFESSIONAL AND VOCATIONAL STANDARDS
STATE BOARD OF PODIATRY
[ 49 PA. CODE CH. 29 ]
Continuing Education
[40 Pa.B. 5805]
[Saturday, October 9, 2010]The State Board of Podiatry (Board) amends Chapter 29 to read as set forth in Annex A.
The final-form rulemaking amends § 29.61(a) (relating to requirements for biennial renewal and eligibility to conduct educational conferences) to increase the biennial continuing education requirement for podiatrists from 30 hours to 50 hours, effective with the renewal of licensure for the biennial license period that begins January 1, 2011. Consistent with existing requirements, at least 30 hours shall be in podiatry courses and programs approved by the Board or the Council on Podiatric Medical Education (CPME). The remaining 20 hours shall be either in Board- or CPME-approved podiatry courses and programs or in courses and programs in medical subjects that are approved by the American Medical Association (AMA) or the American Osteopathic Association (AOA).
The final-form rulemaking further amends § 29.61(a) by: making editorial changes to the 10-hour limitation on the number of continuing education hours that may be obtained by means of the Internet or through the reading of professional journals and magazines; adding a provision formerly in § 29.63a, that continuing education credit will not be awarded for courses or programs in office management or marketing the practice; and clarifying that a licensee bears the responsibility for ensuring that continuing education hours have been approved prior to participating in the course or program for which continuing education credit is sought.
The final-form rulemaking also rescinds § 29.63a because its contents are adequately treated in final-form § 29.61.
Statutory Authority
Section 9.1 of the Podiatry Practice Act (act) (63 P. S. § 42.9a) authorizes the Board to prescribe continuing education requirements, while section 15 of the act (63 P. S. § 42.15) authorizes the Board to adopt regulations as it deems necessary and proper to carry out its statutory responsibilities.
Summary of Comments and Responses to Proposed Rulemaking
The Board published a notice of proposed rulemaking at 39 Pa.B. 7107 (December 19, 2009), with a 30-day public comment period. The Board received a general comment in support of the proposed rulemaking from the Pennsylvania Podiatric Medical Association, a professional organization that represents the majority of licensed podiatrists in this Commonwealth.
The Board received comments from the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) and the House Professional Licensure Committee (House Committee) as part of their review of the proposed rulemaking under the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. §§ 745.1—745.12). The Board did not receive comments from the Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee (Senate Committee) as part of its review of the proposed rulemaking under the Regulatory Review Act.
The following discussion summarizes the comments and the Board's responses:
The proposed rulemaking required that the additional 20 hours of continuing education shall be either in courses and programs in podiatry that are approved by the Board or CPME or in courses and programs in ''related medical subjects'' that are approved by AMA or AOA. IRRC commented that the phrase ''related medical subjects'' is vague because it does not apprise a licensee of what medical subjects are related to the practice of podiatry. IRRC recommended that a more precise standard be included in the final-form rulemaking.
Consistent with the regulatory approach utilized by many other states' podiatric licensing boards, the proposed rulemaking was intended to permit a licensee to obtain continuing education credit, up to a maximum of 20 hours, for a course or program in a medical subject that is approved by AMA and AOA. As stated in the proposed rulemaking, the collaborative, interdisciplinary approach to the diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions has fostered a commonality of interests among podiatrists and allopathic and osteopathic physicians. Podiatrists can obtain useful information and insight for their practices from medical subjects as diverse as diabetes management, orthopedics, dermatology and radiology. To clarify that podiatrists are not limited in the medical subjects they may take in continuing education courses and programs offered under the auspices of AMA or AOA, the final-form rulemaking deletes ''related'' as a modifier of ''medical subjects'' in § 29.61.
The House Committee commented that the Board's use of the terms ''course,'' ''program'' and ''educational conference'' in § 29.61 and other continuing education regulations is confusing and requested a clarification of their meanings.
The terms have been used interchangeably to refer to educational offerings. ''Educational conference'' is used in section 9.1 of the act and the term is referenced throughout the Board's continuing education regulations. In 2003, when the continuing education regulations were last amended, the Board employed the terms ''course'' and ''program'' as an alternate usage to ''educational conference.'' The new terms are more descriptive of the continuing education options available to podiatrists on the Internet and through self-study. Although it has not been advised by a podiatrist that the alternate usage in the regulations has led to misapprehension of the continuing education requirements, the Board intends to utilize more uniform terminology in the continuing education regulations. Because making these changes now would enlarge the original purpose of the proposed rulemaking, the Board will initiate a separate rulemaking to address the matter.
The final-form rulemaking retains language in § 29.61 that prohibits the carrying over of excess continuing education hours from one biennial license period to another. The House Committee questioned whether it would be beneficial, given considerations of time management and cost, to permit a podiatrist to carry over a minimum number of continuing education hours to the next biennial license period without defeating continuing education's purpose of maintaining current skills and knowledge.
The Board believes that allowing a podiatrist to utilize continuing education hours from an earlier biennial license period is contrary to section 9.1 of the act, which requires a podiatrist who is applying for license renewal to have completed the required hours of continuing education during the immediately preceding biennial license period. All but 1 of the other 18 licensing boards within the Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs (BPOA) that require continuing education as a condition of license renewal prohibit the carrying over of excess continuing education hours from one biennial license period to another.
The House Committee and IRRC questioned how a licensee can fulfill his responsibility, in revised § 29.61, to ensure that a particular course or program is approved for continuing education credit prior to participating in the course or program.
The regulations require a podiatrist to obtain continuing education hours in courses and programs that have been approved by the Board, CPME, AMA or AOA. A podiatrist can ascertain whether a course or program is approved for continuing education credit by contacting these four approving bodies. The Board maintains an updated listing of currently approved programs and courses on its web site; likewise, CPME, AMA and AOA each maintains a web site with information about approved continuing education providers. In addition, the promotional and solicitation materials for a continuing education course or program typically indicate whether it is sanctioned by an approving body.
The House Committee asked whether the current biennial renewal fee of $395 is adequate to support the additional workload for the Board's administrative office in auditing the increased number of continuing education hours completed by licensees.
The Board does not believe the costs of the additional auditing workload will be substantial. Like all other BPOA licensing boards with continuing education requirements, the Board does not audit its licensees for continuing education compliance; rather, it randomly selects a percentage of its licensees for a compliance audit. The Department of State's Bureau of Finance and Operations, which monitors the revenues and expenses of BPOA licensing boards, has not advised the Board that its current biennial renewal fee is inadequate to defray costs associated with a modest expansion of its administrative activities.
The House Committee asked how the Board has apprised podiatrists of the increased continuing education requirement other than through the posting of a notice on the Board's web site.
In December 2008, the Board mailed a notice about the initiation of this rulemaking to each currently licensed podiatrist in this Commonwealth. The notice provided information about the type and number of continuing education hours that would be required as a condition of license renewal for the 2011-2012 license period. Contemporaneous with the submission of final-form rulemaking, the Board mailed a reminder notice about the increased continuing education requirement to each currently licensed podiatrist in this Commonwealth.
The House Committee asked whether the increased continuing education requirement would affect reciprocity with neighboring states.
The increased continuing education requirement will not have a direct impact on reciprocity because reciprocity is based on the similarity of states' requirements for initial licensure rather than their requirements for renewal of licensure. Moreover, given that four of six states that border this Commonwealth currently require podiatrists to complete at least 50 hours of continuing education biennially, it is unlikely that continuing education will prove to be a determining factor in the decisions of podiatrists to seek practice privileges across state lines.
Fiscal Impact
The final-form rulemaking will require podiatrists to incur costs in meeting the increased continuing education requirement. The costs cannot be quantified because of the large number and type of continuing education courses and programs available; however, the costs are not believed to be substantial or burdensome. Many podiatrists already exceed the current 30-hour continuing education requirement.
The final-form rulemaking will cause the Board's administrative office to incur unspecified costs regarding auditing compliance with the increased continuing education requirement. The current $395 biennial renewal fee paid by podiatrists will defray the costs, which, as previously noted, are not believed to be substantial.
The final-form rulemaking will not have a fiscal impact on the public or on other agencies and political subdivisions of this Commonwealth.
Paperwork Requirements
The final-form rulemaking will require podiatrists to retain records regarding their increased continuing education hours and to submit the records to the Board upon audit. The final-form rulemaking will require the Board to revise its biennial renewal application. The final-form rulemaking will not create additional paperwork for the general public or for other agencies and political subdivisions of this Commonwealth.
Effective Date
The final-form rulemaking will become effective upon publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin and will apply to the renewal of licensure for the 2011-2012 biennial license period.
Regulatory Review
Under section 5(a) of the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. § 745.5(a)), on December 9, 2009, the Board submitted a copy of the notice of proposed rulemaking, published at 39 Pa.B. 7107, to IRRC and the Chairpersons of the House and Senate Committees for review and comment.
Under section 5(c) of the Regulatory Review Act, IRRC and the House and Senate Committees were provided with copies of the comments received during the public comment period, as well as other documents when requested. In preparing the final-form rulemaking, the Board has considered all comments from IRRC, the House and Senate Committees and the public.
Under section 5.1(j.2) of the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. § 745.5a(j.2)), on September 15, 2010, the final-form rulemaking was deemed approved by the House and Senate Committees. Under section 5.1(e) of the Regulatory Review Act, IRRC met on September 16, 2010, and approved the final-form rulemaking.
Additional Information
Persons who require additional information about the final-form rulemaking should contact Gina Bittner, Administrator, State Board of Podiatry, P. O. Box 2649, Harrisburg, PA 17105-2649, (717) 783-4858, ST-PODIATRY@state.pa.us.
Findings
The Board finds that:
(1) Public notice of proposed rulemaking was given under sections 201 and 202 of the act of July 31, 1968 (P. L. 769, No. 240) (45 P. S. §§ 1201 and 1202) and the regulations promulgated thereunder, 1 Pa. Code §§ 7.1 and 7.2.
(2) A public comment period was provided as required by law and all comments were considered.
(3) The amendments to the final-form rulemaking do not enlarge the original purpose of the proposed rulemaking published at 39 Pa.B. 7107.
(4) The final-form rulemaking adopted by this order is necessary and appropriate for the administration of the act.
Order
The Board, acting under authority of the act, orders that:
(a) The regulations of the Board, 49 Pa. Code Chapter 29, are amended by amending § 29.61 and by deleting § 29.63a to read as set forth in Annex A.
(b) The Board shall submit this order and Annex A to the Office of Attorney General and the Office of General Counsel for approval as required by law.
(c) The Board shall certify this order and Annex A and deposit them with the Legislative Reference Bureau as required by law.
(d) The final-form rulemaking shall take effect upon publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
RICHARD G. STUEMPFLE, DPM,
Chairperson(Editor's Note: For the text of the order of the Independent Regulatory Review Commission relating to this document, see 40 Pa.B. 5655 (October 2, 2010).)
Fiscal Note: Fiscal Note 16A-4410 remains valid for the final adoption of the subject regulations.
Annex A
TITLE 49. PROFESSIONAL AND VOCATIONAL STANDARDS
PART I. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Subpart A. PROFESSIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL AFFAIRS
CHAPTER 29. STATE BOARD OF PODIATRY
CONTINUING EDUCATION § 29.61. Requirements for biennial renewal and eligibility to conduct educational conferences.
(a) Effective with the renewal of licensure for the 2011-2012 biennium, a licensee applying for biennial renewal of a license shall have completed 50 clock hours of continuing education in approved courses and programs during the preceding biennium. At least 30 of the clock hours must be in courses and programs in podiatry that are approved by the Board or the Council on Podiatric Medical Education (CPME). The remaining clock hours must be either in courses and programs in podiatry that are approved by the Board or the CPME or in courses and programs in medical subjects that are approved by the American Medical Association or the American Osteopathic Association. A maximum of 10 clock hours may be in approved courses and programs that involve the use of the Internet or the reading of professional journals or magazine articles. Continuing education credit will not be awarded for clock hours in office management or marketing the practice. Excess clock hours may not be carried over to the next biennium. A licensee is responsible for ensuring that a particular course or program is approved for continuing education credit prior to participating in the course or program.
(b) Providers approved by the Board are eligible to conduct educational conferences.
(c) Applicants for license renewal shall provide, on the renewal application, a signed statement certifying that the continuing education requirements have been met and information to document their certification, including the following:
(1) The date attended.
(2) The clock hours claimed.
(3) The title of the course or program and description of content.
(4) The provider which sponsored the course or program.
(5) The location of the course or program.
(d) The licensee shall retain attendance certificates to document completion of the prescribed number of clock hours for 5 years following the completion of each course, which shall be produced upon demand by the Board or its auditing agents.
§ 29.63a. (Reserved).
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 10-1928. Filed for public inspection October 8, 2010, 9:00 a.m.]
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