PROPOSED RULEMAKING
STATE BOARD OF OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY EDUCATION AND LICENSURE
[ 49 PA. CODE CH. 42 ]
Continuing Competency
[41 Pa.B. 1909]
[Saturday, April 9, 2011]The State Board of Occupational Therapy Education and Licensure (Board) proposes to amend § 42.17 (relating to fees) and to adopt §§ 42.51—42.58 (relating to continued competency) to read as set forth in Annex A.
Effective Date
The proposed rulemaking will take effect upon final-form publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
Statutory Authority
Section 5(b) of the Occupational Therapy Practice Act (act) (63 P. S. § 1505(b)) authorizes the Board to promulgate and adopt rules and regulations consistent with the act as it deems necessary for the performance of its duties and the proper administration of the act. Section 15(a) of the act (63 P. S. § 1515(a)) further provides that ''[t]he board may establish additional requirements for licensure renewal to assure continued competency of the applying occupational therapist.''
Background and Purpose
Board members and licensees have long recognized the need for licensed occupational therapists to maintain and expand their professional knowledge and skills. The purpose of this proposed rulemaking is to implement the requirement for continued competency in section 15(a) of the act and establish continued competency requirements to enable licensed occupational therapists to provide ''the highest possible degree of professional care and conduct'' to the citizens of this Commonwealth as provided in section 2 of the act (63 P. S. § 1502).
Currently, the Board does not have continued competency requirements. Consequently, the Board proposes to add fees for continued competency providers and course approvals in § 42.17 and institute continued competency requirements for occupational therapists as a condition of licensure renewal and reactivation in proposed §§ 42.51—42.58. The Board has not included occupational therapy assistants in this proposal as section 15(a) of the act only authorizes continued competency for occupational therapists. The Board notes, however, that if Senate Bill 187 is enacted prior to these regulations being adopted as final-form, the Board will add occupational therapy assistants to this proposed rulemaking.
Description of Amendments
§ 42.17. Fees
This proposed rulemaking would amend and rename § 42.17 to add a fee schedule regarding continued competency. Applicants seeking provider approval under proposed § 42.54(d) (relating to program providers) would be required to pay a $40 application and biennial renewal fee. Applicants seeking course approval under proposed § 42.54(e) would also be required to pay a $40 application fee. These fees are based upon the actual amount of time it takes to process these applications.
§ 42.51. Purpose
Proposed § 42.51 sets forth the purpose of the continued competency requirements consistent with the Board's statutory authority.
§ 42.52. Definitions
The Board proposes to define ten terms specifically applicable to continued competency in § 42.52: ''contact hour,'' ''continued competency,'' ''educational courses,'' ''level I fieldwork,'' ''level II fieldwork,'' ''mentor,'' ''mentorship,'' ''mentorship agreement,'' ''professional continued competence portfolio'' and ''protégé.''
A ''contact hour'' is defined as 50-60 minutes of participation in a continued competency activity, depending on the type of activity. Generally, educational courses are 50 minutes in duration while fieldwork, mentorship, writing and editing are measured in 60-minute increments. Unlike continuing education, which is a prerequisite for biennial renewal for many licensing professions, ''continued competency'' is a multidimensional process by which a licensed occupational therapist demonstrates the development and maintenance of knowledge, skills, attitudes, judgment, abilities and ethics. A ''professional continued competence portfolio'' is a document that evidences completion of continued competency activities plus a self-assessment as required under § 42.57 (relating to documentation and reporting of continued competency activities).
The remaining definitions stem from the acceptable continued competency activities in § 42.55 (relating to acceptable continued competency activities). The proposed definition of ''educational courses'' clarifies that these courses include academic and continuing education courses delivered by both onsite and distance education. Another acceptable continued competency activity is fieldwork as described in the American Occupational Therapy Association's (AOTA) Standards for an Accredited Educational Program for the Occupational Therapist. The definitions of ''level I fieldwork'' and ''level II fieldwork'' distinguish between basic and advanced fieldwork experiences. Specific information about level I fieldwork and level II fieldwork is available on the AOTA's web site at http://www.aota.org/Educate/EdRes/Fieldwork.aspx.
In addition to education courses and fieldwork, another acceptable continued competency activity is mentorship. As explained in the proposed definition, a mentorship is a formalized one-on-one teaching/learning relationship specified in a ''mentorship agreement'' between a ''mentor'' and a ''protégé.'' A ''mentor'' includes a licensed occupational therapist as well as another person who holds a license, certificate or registration from one of the health licensing boards within the Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs or who is currently certified by the Department of Education.
§ 42.53. Continued competency requirements
Effective the first biennium following publication of the final-form rulemaking, § 42.53 would require licensed occupational therapists to complete a minimum of 24 contact hours in at least two acceptable continued competency activities each biennium, after their first biennial renewal period, as a condition of licensure renewal. Occupational therapists seeking to reactivate lapsed or inactive licenses would be required to show compliance with the continued competency requirement during the biennium immediately preceding the request for reactivation. Additionally, licensed occupational therapists whose licenses have been suspended or revoked would be required to complete the continued competency contact hour requirement for each biennium in which the license was suspended or revoked as a condition for reinstatement.
§ 42.54. Program providers
Under proposed § 42.54, licensed occupational therapists would have three options for provider approvals: complete activities from preapproved providers; complete activities from Board-approved providers; or seek individual approval for a specific activity provided by an entity that is neither preapproved nor Board-approved. Proposed subsection (c) contains the list of 12 preapproved providers including State, National and international occupational therapy associations; the AOTA's Approved Provider Program; the Department of Education; Federal and State programs related to health care; accredited colleges, universities and postsecondary vocational schools; and National and State professional health care and education organizations.
Proposed subsection (d) contains the criteria the Board will use to evaluate providers for Board approval. At least 60 days prior to the beginning of the activity, but no later than 90 days before the end of the biennial renewal period, a provider seeking Board approval would be required to provide the Board with its learning objectives, criteria for selecting and evaluating faculty instructors, subject matter and instructional materials and its evaluation procedures. Unlike preapproved providers, Board-approved providers must renew their approval biennially.
A licensed occupational therapist who wishes to obtain credit for an activity that is provided by an entity that is neither preapproved nor Board-approved may seek approval for the activity no later than 90 days before the end of the biennial period based on the criteria in proposed subsection (e). Following review, the Board will advise the licensed occupational therapist whether the activity has been approved and the number of contact hours awarded.
§ 42.55. Acceptable continued competency activities
Proposed § 42.55 describes the various activities for which continued competency contact hours may be awarded, the maximum number of hours that may be awarded and the documentation required for that activity if it differs from the general requirements in proposed § 42.57(a). These activities include continuing education courses, academic courses, mentorship, fieldwork supervision, professional writing and editing, presentation, and instruction. Irrespective of the provider, contact hours would only be granted for activities that are relevant to the practice of occupational therapy and may not involve marketing, office management, financial gain or self-promotion.
For educational courses, under proposed subsection (b)(1), licensed occupational therapists may earn a maximum aggregate of 18 contact hours. The number of contact hours for continuing education courses equals the number of directed hours while one credit equals 15 contact hours for academic courses.
Mentorship activities are delineated in subsection (b)(2). Prior to the beginning of a mentorship, the mentor and the protégé would enter into a mentorship agreement establishing the scope of the mentorship. Following the mentorship, the mentor would provide the protégé a postmentorship summary documenting the time spent and the outcomes of the mentorship program. Both a mentor and a protégé may earn 1 contact hour for every 5 hours of mentorship activities up to 6 contact hours per biennium. A copy of the mentorship agreement and the postmentorship summary would be included in the professional continued competence portfolio.
Proposed subsection (b)(3) describes fieldwork supervision. Licensed occupational therapists may earn 1 contact hour per student up to 3 contact hours per biennium for serving as a supervisor for level I fieldwork and 3 contact hours per student up to 6 contact hours per biennium for serving as a supervisor for level II fieldwork. In addition to the documentation required to be produced upon audit in proposed § 42.57(a), fieldwork documentation would have to be verified by the educational program.
Proposed subsection (b)(4) describes professional writing activities. Licensed occupational therapists may earn a maximum of 15 contact hours in this activity. The Board proposes to award 15 contact hours for writing a book, 10 contact hours for writing a chapter in a book, 10 contact hours for writing an article published in a peer-reviewed journal and 5 contact hours for writing an article published in a non-peer-reviewed journal. Although the Board is cognizant that numerous hours are spent writing prior to the document being published, for continued competency contact hour purposes, the Board will only award credit for professional writing activities in the biennium in which the book, chapter or article is published.
Like professional writing, the Board proposes capping the number of contact hours to be awarded for editing to a maximum of 15 contact hours per biennium. Proposed subsection (b)(5) would award a maximum of 10 contact hours for editing a book and 1 contact hour, up to a maximum of 6 contact hours, for each article reviewed for a professional journal.
Proposed subsection (b)(6) addresses presentation and instruction. A licensed occupational therapist may earn a maximum of 12 contact hours in this activity per biennium. Two contact hours would be awarded for each 60-minute peer-reviewed or invited presentation.
§ 42.56. Waivers of continued competency requirements and curing deficiencies
As proposed, § 42.56 would allow the Board to waive continued competency requirements for licensees due to illness, injury or emergency. Licensees would be required to request a waiver no later than 60 days before the end of the renewal year unless the applicant proves to the satisfaction of the Board that it was impracticable to do so (as in the instance when a licensee is enrolled for a continued competency activity 15 days before the end of the biennial period and suffers a heart attack preventing the licensee from attending the activity). The proposed rulemaking would also permit licensed occupational therapists to make up deficiencies after presenting a request, along with a remediation plan, to the Board to make up the required contact hours.
§ 42.57. Documentation and reporting of continued competency activities
Proposed § 42.57 describes the documentation and reporting responsibilities for providers and for licensed occupational therapists. Regardless of whether the provider is preapproved or Board-approved, subsection (a) requires providers to provide attendees with completion documentation following the activity. The documentation must include the name of the participant, provider and instructor, the title, date and location of the activity, and number of contact hours awarded.
Subsection (b) describes documentation requirements for licensed occupational therapists. For each biennial period, a licensed occupational therapist would be required to prepare a professional continued competency portfolio which contains verification of completion of the required continued competency contact hours as well as a self-assessment. Licensed occupational therapists would be required to retain the portfolio for 4 years following the last day of the renewal period in which the continued competence activities were earned and to provide them to the Board when requested. It also provides notice that licensed occupational therapists who have not completed the required hours of continued competency activities may not be eligible for renewal until the hours are completed, unless a waiver has been granted or a plan for curing deficiencies has been approved by the Board under § 42.56.
§ 42.58. Disciplinary action
Finally, § 42.58 advises licensed occupational therapists that failure to comply with the continued competency requirements or submission of false documentation in connection with those requirements subjects the licensed occupational therapist to disciplinary action under section 16 of the act (63 P. S. § 1516). Procedures and standards for due process stemming from a disciplinary action are in 1 Pa. Code Part II (relating to General Rules of Administrative Practice and Procedure), the act of July 2, 1993 (P. L. 345, No. 48) (63 P. S. §§ 2201—2207) and case law.
Fiscal Impact and Paperwork Requirements
The proposed rulemaking will have a fiscal impact on the regulated community in that each licensed occupational therapist would incur the costs associated with completion of 24 contact hours of continued competency activities as a condition of biennial renewal. Due to the variety of ways an occupational therapist may obtain contact hours for continued competency purposes, it is impossible to derive an appropriate estimate as to costs for the regulated community. For instance, an occupational therapist could obtain contact hours through a mentoring relationship, professional writing and editing, fieldwork supervision, journal review or presentation. None of these activities necessarily impose an additional cost on the licensee. While some educational courses can be expensive, many Internet-based courses are extremely inexpensive and in some cases free. Nonetheless, the Board estimates an average cost of compliance with the continued competency requirements to be $300 per licensee annually. In addition, the proposed rulemaking would create additional paperwork for the regulated community in that licensed occupational therapists would be required to retain documentation supporting the completion of the continued competency activities for 4 years and provide that documentation to the Board upon request.
The proposed rulemaking will also have a fiscal impact on the Board in that the Board will be required to expend resources reviewing Board-approved provider and individual activity applications. However, the Board anticipates that there will be no more than 30 applications to review in each category and those costs will be borne by the applicants through the proposed $40 fee. In addition, the Board will incur costs and increased paperwork associated with audit and enforcement of the continued competency requirements.
Sunset Date
The Board continuously monitors the effectiveness of the regulations. Therefore, a sunset date has not been assigned.
Regulatory Review
Under section 5(a) of the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. § 745.5(a)), on March 25, 2011, the Board submitted a copy of this proposed rulemaking and a copy of a Regulatory Analysis Form to the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) and the Chairpersons of the House Professional Licensure Committee and the Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee. A copy of this material is available to the public upon request.
Under section 5(g) of the Regulatory Review Act, IRRC may convey comments, recommendations or objections to the proposed rulemaking within 30 days of the close of the public comment period. The comments, recommendations or objections must specify the regulatory review criteria which have not been met. The Regulatory Review Act specifies detailed procedures for review, prior to final publication of the rulemaking, by the Board, the General Assembly and the Governor of comments, recommendations or objections raised.
Public Comment
Interested persons are invited to submit written comments, recommendations or objections regarding this proposed rulemaking to Judith Pachter Schulder, Board Counsel, State Board of Occupational Therapy Education and Licensure, P. O. Box 2649, Harrisburg, PA 17105-2649 within 30 days following publication of this proposed rulemaking in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
ELLEN L. KOLODNER,
ChairpersonFiscal Note: 16A-677. No fiscal impact; (8) recommends adoption.
Annex A
TITLE 49. PROFESSIONAL AND VOCATIONAL STANDARDS
PART I. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Subpart A. PROFESSIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL AFFAIRS
CHAPTER 42. STATE BOARD OF OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY EDUCATION AND LICENSURE
LICENSURE § 42.17. [Licensure fees] Fees.
* * * * * (c) The fee schedule for continued competency providers and courses shall be as follows:
Initial provider approval..........$40
Biennial renewal of provider approval..........$40
Individual activity approval..........$40
(Editor's Note: Sections 42.51—42.58 are new and printed in regular type to enhance readability.)
CONTINUED COMPETENCY § 42.51. Purpose.
The purpose of §§ 42.52—42.58 is to implement section 15(a) of the act (63 P. S. § 1515(a)), which authorizes the Board to establish additional requirements for licensure renewal to assure continued competency to achieve the legislative purpose in section 2 of the act (63 P. S. § 1502) to assure the highest degree of professional care and conduct on the part of licensed occupational therapists.
§ 42.52. Definitions.
The following words and terms, when used in §§ 42.51 and 42.53—42.58, have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
Contact hour—A unit of measure for a continued competency activity that equals 50-60 minutes of participation.
Continued competency—The multidimensional process by which a licensed occupational therapist demonstrates the development and maintenance of the knowledge, skills, attitudes, judgment, abilities and ethics necessary to practice occupational therapy in a variety of roles and settings.
Educational courses—Academic and continuing education courses delivered onsite or by distance education.
Level I fieldwork—Introductory fieldwork experiences that are a component of an educational program in occupational therapy in which students develop a basic understanding of the needs of clients through directed observation and supervised participation in the occupational therapy process.
Level II fieldwork—Advanced fieldwork experiences that are a component of an educational program in occupational therapy that provide multiple occupational therapy services to a variety of clients in multiple settings.
Mentor—A person who holds a current license, certificate or registration from a health-related board within the Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs or is currently certified by the Department of Education who is engaged in a one-on-one teaching/coaching relationship with a licensed occupational therapist for the stated purpose of imparting specific knowledge and skills related to the practice of occupational therapy.
Mentorship—Participation in a formalized, one-on-one teaching/learning relationship for the purposes of building a licensed occupational therapist's capacity to practice occupational therapy.
Mentorship agreement—A written agreement between the mentor and the protégé that outlines specific goals and objectives and designates a plan of activities.
Professional continued competence portfolio—A document, which includes a self-assessment, that evidences the licensed occupational therapist's completion of the continued competency requirement in § 42.53 (relating to continued competency requirements).
Protégé—A licensed occupational therapist who is engaged in a one-on-one relationship with another health care professional for the stated purpose of acquiring specific skills and knowledge related to the practice of occupational therapy.
§ 42.53. Continued competency requirements.
(a) Beginning with the ______ (Editor's Note: The blank represents the first complete licensure biennium following the date of adoption of this proposed rulemaking.) biennium, a licensed occupational therapist shall complete a minimum of 24 contact hours in each biennial period in at least two of the acceptable continued competency activities in § 42.55 (relating to acceptable continued competency activities) as a condition of licensure renewal.
(b) For the first biennial renewal after a licensed occupational therapist obtains a license, the licensed occupational therapist is exempt from complying with subsection (a).
(c) A licensed occupational therapist seeking to reactivate a lapsed or inactive license shall show compliance with the continued competency contact hour requirement during the 2-year period immediately preceding application for reactivation.
(d) A licensed occupational therapist whose license has been suspended or revoked shall complete the required continued competency contact hours for each licensure biennium in which the license was suspended or revoked as a condition of reinstatement.
§ 42.54. Program providers.
(a) General. Activities offered by preapproved and Board-approved providers will be accepted as satisfying part of the continued competency requirement. It is the responsibility of the licensed occupational therapist to ascertain the approval status of the provider before undertaking a continued competency activity.
(b) Rights reserved. The Board reserves the right to reject an activity if it is outside of the scope described in § 42.55(a) (relating to acceptable continued competency activities) or otherwise unacceptable because of presentation or content.
(c) Preapproved providers. The Board has preapproved educational courses provided, coprovided or approved by the following entities:
(1) A State, National or international occupational therapy association.
(2) The American Occupational Therapy Association's Approved Provider Program.
(3) American Society of Hand Therapists.
(4) Association for Driver Rehabilitation Specialists.
(5) The Department of Education.
(6) An accredited college or university or post-secondary vocational technical school or institution.
(7) Federal or State government programs related to health care.
(8) A provider approved by another health licensing board within the Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs or another State licensure board.
(9) National and State professional health care organizations.
(10) National and State professional education organizations.
(11) National Alliance for the Mentally Ill.
(12) Case Management Society of America.
(d) Board-approved providers. The Board will consider for approval, on a biennial basis, providers who wish to offer activities described in § 42.55(a) as follows:
(1) The provider seeking approval shall submit an application to the Board at least 60 days prior to the beginning of the activity but no later than 90 days before the end of the biennial renewal period. The applicant will be notified of approval or disapproval in writing.
(2) The Board will not approve a provider unless it:
(i) Offers activities with specific learning objectives.
(ii) Has criteria for selecting and evaluating faculty instructors, subject matter and instructional materials.
(iii) Has a procedure for determining licensees' perceptions of the extent to which the objectives have been met.
(e) Individual activity approval.
(1) A licensed occupational therapist may request approval of contact hours for continued competency activities not otherwise approved by submitting an application for approval to the Board no later than 90 days before the end of the biennial renewal period that includes the following:
(i) The title of the activity and number of contact hours.
(ii) The description of the activity from the program catalogue or brochure.
(iii) The learning objectives.
(iv) The name and qualifications of the presenter.
(v) An assessment of the activity.
(2) Upon review of the completed application, the Board will notify the applicant whether the activity has been approved and, if approved, the number of contact hours that will be awarded.
(f) Withdrawal of approval. The Board may withdraw approval of a provider for cause. The provider will be notified in writing of the reasons for withdrawal of approval.
§ 42.55. Acceptable continued competency activities.
(a) Irrespective of the provider, contact hours will only be awarded for continued competency activities that are relevant to the practice of occupational therapy including direct care, management, education and research. Contact hours will not be awarded for activities related to marketing, office management, financial gain or self-promotion.
(b) The following activities are acceptable as long as the specific activity complies with subsection (a):
(1) Educational courses.
(i) A licensed occupational therapist may earn a maximum aggregate of 18 contact hours in educational courses per biennium.
(ii) For continuing education courses, contact hours equal the number of directed learning hours.
(iii) For academic courses, one credit equals 15 contact hours.
(iv) Instead of the documentation required under § 42.57(a) (relating to documentation and reporting of continued competency activities), acceptable documentation of educational courses consists of an official transcript or certificate of completion indicating the name and date of the course and a description of the course from the school catalog or brochure.
(2) Mentorship.
(i) Prior to beginning a mentorship, the mentor and the protégé shall enter into a mentorship agreement.
(ii) At the conclusion of the mentorship, the mentor shall provide a postmentorship summary documenting the time spent in and outcomes of the mentoring program. A copy of the summary shall be provided to the protégé and maintained by the mentor and the protégé for 4 years.
(iii) The mentor and the protégé may earn 1 contact hour for every 5 hours spent in mentorship activities up to 6 contact hours per biennium.
(iv) Instead of the documentation required under § 42.57(a), acceptable documentation consists of a copy of the mentorship agreement and the postmentorship summary.
(3) Fieldwork supervision.
(i) A licensed occupational therapist may earn:
(A) One contact hour per student, up to 3 contact hours per biennium, for serving as a supervisor for level I fieldwork.
(B) Three contact hours per student, up to 6 contact hours per biennium, for serving as a supervisor for level II fieldwork.
(ii) In addition to the information required under § 42.57(a), the educational program must verify the name of the supervisor, the names and number of students being supervised, the locations where the fieldwork is being performed and the dates and level of fieldwork.
(4) Professional writing.
(i) A licensed occupational therapist may earn the following contact hours, up to a maximum of 15 per biennium, for professional writing:
(A) Fifteen contact hours for writing a book.
(B) Ten contact hours for writing a chapter in a book.
(C) Ten contact hours for writing an article published in a peer-reviewed journal.
(D) Five contact hours for writing an article published in a non-peer-reviewed journal.
(ii) Credit will be awarded for the biennium in which the book, chapter or article is published.
(iii) Instead of the documentation required under § 42.57(a), acceptable documentation of professional writing consists of a copy of the editor's or publisher's acceptance letter and a copy of the article, chapter or the cover page of the book including the title, author, source and date of publication, and editor.
(5) Editing.
(i) A licensed occupational therapist may earn the following contact hours, up to a maximum of 15 per biennium, for editing:
(A) A maximum of 10 contact hours may be earned for editing a book relevant to occupational therapy.
(B) A maximum of 6 contact hours per biennium may be earned for serving as a reviewer for a professional journal, provided that only 1 contact hour may be accrued for each article reviewed.
(ii) Instead of the documentation required under § 42.57(a), acceptable documentation of editing activities consists of the following:
(A) For editing a book, a copy of the editor's or publisher's acceptance letter and the cover page of the book including the title, author, source and date of publication, and editor.
(B) For serving as a reviewer, a copy of a letter from the editor acknowledging the number of articles reviewed.
(6) Presentation and instruction.
(i) A licensed occupational therapist may earn 2 contact hours, up to a maximum of 12 per biennium, for each 60-minute peer-reviewed or invited presentation or workshop related to occupational therapy.
(ii) Credit will only be awarded one time per biennium for each presentation regardless of the number of times the material is presented.
(iii) In addition to the information required under § 42.57(a), the provider shall provide a copy of the official program, schedule or syllabus including presentation title, date, hours of presentation and attestation by the provider.
§ 42.56. Waivers of continued competency requirements and curing deficiencies.
(a) Waivers.
(1) The Board may waive all or part of the continued competency activity requirements in the case of a serious illness, injury or emergency which prevents a licensee from completing the continued competency requirements.
(2) A licensed occupational therapist seeking a waiver shall submit a written request for a waiver and provide documentary evidence to the satisfaction of the Board of the serious illness, injury or emergency which would preclude the completion of the continued competency requirements.
(3) The request for a waiver shall be filed with the Board 60 days before the end of the biennium in which the contact hours are being accrued unless the licensed occupational therapist proves to the satisfaction of the Board that it was impracticable to do so.
(b) Curing deficiencies. A licensed occupational therapist with a deficiency in contact hours may apply to the Board in writing for leave to make up the contact hours in arrears. The request must include an explanation of why the deficiency occurred and a plan, along with the estimated time needed, for curing it. Requests will be evaluated by the Board on a case-by-case basis and will be approved or disapproved at its discretion.
§ 42.57. Documentation and reporting of continued competency activities.
(a) A provider of a continued competency activity shall furnish to each participant documentation, signed by the provider, which includes the following, unless otherwise directed in § 42.56 (relating to waivers of continued competency requirements and curing deficiencies):
(1) The name of the participant, provider and instructor.
(2) The title, date and location of the activity.
(3) The number of contact hours awarded.
(b) A licensed occupational therapist shall:
(1) Prepare a professional continued competence portfolio for each biennial period and retain it for 4 years following the last day of the biennial period during which the continued competency activities were completed.
(2) Verify completion of the required contact hours of continued competency activities when the license is renewed. A licensed occupational therapist who has not completed the required hours of continued competency activities will not be eligible for renewal until the hours are completed, unless a waiver or extension has been granted or a plan to cure the deficiency has been approved by the Board under this section.
(3) Provide a copy of the professional continued competence portfolio to the Board within 30 days of notification of an audit.
§ 42.58. Disciplinary action.
A licensed occupational therapist who fails to comply with the continued competency activity requirements or the audit requirements or submits false documents in connection with the continued competency requirement will be subject to disciplinary action under section 16 of the act (63 P. S. § 1516).
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 11-606. Filed for public inspection April 8, 2011, 9:00 a.m.]
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