32-2030

32-2030. Business entities; patient records;
protocol; exemptions; rules

A. Beginning September 1, 2011, a business entity shall not offer physical therapy
services pursuant to this chapter unless:

1. The business entity is registered with the board pursuant to this section.

2. The physical therapy services are conducted by a licensee or certificate holder
pursuant to this chapter.

B. The business entity must file a registration application on a form prescribed by
the board. The application shall include:

1. A description of the entity's services offered to the public.

2. The name of the manager who is authorized and who is responsible for managing
the physical therapy services offered at each office.

3. The names and addresses of the officers and directors of the business entity.

4. A registration fee prescribed by the board by rule.

C. A business entity must file a separate registration application and pay a fee
for each branch office in this state.

D. A registration expires on August 31 of odd numbered years in accordance with the
physical therapist professional licensing schedule. A business entity that wishes to
renew a registration must submit an application for renewal as prescribed by the board on
a biennial basis on a form prescribed by the board before the expiration date. An entity
that fails to renew the registration before the expiration date is subject to a late fee
as prescribed by the board by rule.

E. The business entity must notify the board in writing within thirty days after
any change:

1. In the business entity's name, address or telephone number.

2. In the officers or directors of the business entity.

3. In the name of the manager who is authorized and who is responsible for managing
the physical therapy services in any facility.

F. The business entity must establish and implement a written protocol for the
secure storage, transfer and access of the physical therapy records of the business
entity's patients. This protocol must include, at a minimum, procedures for:

1. Notifying patients of the future locations of their records if the business
entity terminates or sells the practice.

2. Disposing of unclaimed physical therapy records.

3. The timely response to requests by patients for copies of their records.

G. The business entity must notify the board within thirty days after the
dissolution of any registered business entity or the closing or relocation of any
facility and must disclose to the board the entity's procedure by which its patients may
obtain their records.

H. This section does not apply to:

1. A sole proprietorship or partnership that consists exclusively of persons who
are licensed by a health profession regulatory board as defined in section 32-3201.

2. A facility regulated by the federal government or a state, district or territory
of the United States.

3. An administrator or executor of the estate of a deceased physical therapist or a
person who is legally authorized to act for a physical therapist who has been adjudicated
to be mentally incompetent for not more than one year from the date the board receives
notice of the physical therapist's death or incapacitation.

4. A health care institution that is licensed pursuant to title 36.

I. A facility that offers physical therapy services to the public by persons
licensed under this chapter must be registered by the board unless the facility is any of
the following:

1. Owned by a licensee.

2. Regulated by the federal government or a state, district or territory of the
United States.

J. Except for issues relating to insurance coding and billing that require the
name, signature and license number of the physical therapist providing treatment, this
section does not:

1. Authorize a licensee in the course of providing physical therapy services for an
entity registered pursuant to this section to disregard or interfere with a policy or
practice established by the entity for the operation and management of the business.

2. Authorize a business entity registered pursuant to this section to establish or
enforce a business policy or practice that may interfere with the professional judgment
of the licensee in providing physical therapy services for the business entity or may
compromise a licensee's ability to comply with this chapter.

K. The board shall adopt rules that provide a method for the board to receive the
assistance and advice of business entities registered pursuant to this section in all
matters relating to the regulation of business entities.

L. The board shall adopt rules necessary to enforce this chapter in the practice
settings of its licensees, certificate holders and registrants if the practice settings
are not regulated by the department of health services.