Proposed Changes to
House Bill 3244
The following changes were
recommended and approved by the OSHA Ad Hoc committee 3/14/98.
Further
revision & corrections may be added, if errors are noted by
members of the joint committee meeting of 3/14/98. Please forward
comments to:
Ladyhawkhr@aol.com (Hyla Richey)
JEG3434@aol.com (Jan Goldman)
arlis.wood@oc.edu (Suzanne Wood)
Kurt@hear4life.com (Kurt Kalies)
The following information is a list of suggested amendments to House Bill 3244 as passed by the House of Representatives on 3/11/98.
The suggested amendments were derived from a joint meeting of the OSHA Sunset Review Committee (co chairs Jan Goldman and Suzanne Wood) and the Ad Hoc Rules Revision Committee (chaired by JoAnn Bullard) on 3/14/98.
At the request of the OSHA Sunset Review Committee, the bill and the following suggested amendments are being posted to hear4life.com web site by permission of the host of that web site, Kurt Kalies. This information is being provided as a service to all licensees for speech-language pathology and audiology in the state of Oklahoma.
Suzanne Wood has facilitated a phone call bank through the permission of Oklahoma Christian University, to notify all licensees in the State of Oklahoma about the web site containing this information with regard to the legislation. Telephone calls to licensees are to be made on 3/15/98.
PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO HOUSE BILL 3244 ARE AS FOLLOWS: (Updated 3/16)
1605 1. INSERTED 'LANGUAGE' AND
INSERTED 'REGIONALLY ACCREDITED ACADEMIC INSTITUTION'
1. Hold not less than a master's degree, or the equivalent, with
a major emphasis in speech-language pathology or audiology from a
regionally accredited academic institution offering a graduate
program in speech-language pathology or audiology that meet or
exceed present national standards.
1605 2 INSERTED 'THAT MEET OR
EXCEED PRESENT NATIONAL STANDARDS'
Submit evidence of completion of supervised postgraduate
professional experience from a regionally accredited academic
institution approved by the Board and described in the rules that
meet or exceed present national standards
1607 B: LINES 30 - 34 CHANGED
ELIEGIBLE TO 'LICENSED' SPEECH LANGUAGE PATHOLOGIST AND
AUDIOLOGIST'l INSERTED 'LANGUAGE', INSERTED 'LICENSED' AND
REMOVED 'ELIGIBLE' AND CHANGED 'MAY' TO 'WILL'
The successor for any of the three speech-language pathologists
or audiologists will be selected from a list of five licensed
speech-language pathologists or audiologists furnished by the
Oklahoma Spech-Language-Hearing association. "
1619 A (LINES 32-35 ON P 9) STRUCK
' OR INFORMAL' AND STRUCK 'IMPOSE PROBATIONARY CONDITIONS, IMPOSE
PRACTICE AND/OR SUPERVISION REQUIREMENTS' STRUCK 'AND/OR REQUIRE
COMPLETION OF CONTINUING EDUCATION HOURS SPECIFIED BY THE BOARD
AS TO CONTENT AND HOURS'
The Board of Examiners for Speech-Language Pathology and
Audiology may impose separately, or in combination, any of the
following disciplinary actions on a licensee after formal
disciplinary action as provided in the Speech-Language Pathology
and Audiology Licensing Act: suspend or revoke a license, issue a
letter of reprimand, impose an administrative fine not to exceed
Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000), and assess reasonable costs.
Disciplinary actions may be taken by the Board upon proof that a
licensee:…..
1619 A 7: STRIKE LINES 21 - 24:
Has been convicted of fraud in filing Medicare or Medicaid claims
or in filing claims to any third-party payor. A copy of the
record of conviction, certified by the clerk of the court
entering the conviction, shall be conclusive evidence of
conviction;
1619 A # 8 - Strike LINES 25 - 31:
Has been disciplined by a licensing or disciplinary authority of
any other state, country, or nationally recognized professional
organization orconvicted or disciplined by a court of any state
or country for any act that would be grounds for disciplinary
action pursuant to the Speech Pathology and Audiology Licensing
Act. A certified copy of the adverse action shall be conclusive
evidence thereof;
1619 B: CHANGE FROM 10 TO 30 DAYS
No disciplinary action shall be imposed until after a hearing
before the Board. A notice of at least hirty (30) days shall be
served, either personally….
With regard to the title Speech Pathology: Change to add "Language" so as to read: Speech-Language Pathology THROUGHOUT the Act
With regard to the descriptor Speech Pathologist, change to Speech-Language Pathologist THROUGHOUT the Act
With regard to Oklahoma Speech and Hearing Association, change to Oklahoma Speech-Language-Hearing Association THROUGHOUT the Act
The group composed of members of the OSHA Sunset Review Committee and individuals from the Ad Hoc Rules Revision Committee called by Licensure Board Chair Jo Ann Bullard: endorse the bill as amended by this group and requested that the OSHA President give testimony to the Senate Committee concerning these changes.
***************
Some Changes and Comments that were considered to House Bill 3244
1. Change name from Board of Examiners of Speech Pathology and Audiology to Board of Examiners for Speech Language Pathology and Audiology
Section 1605 2.
...supervised clinical practicum from an accredited educational
institution
section 1605 3.
Professional experience as approved by the Board and described in
rules and consistent with ASHA requirements
4. Examinations approved by the Board and consistent with ASHA requirements
6. C in general please change assistant wording to be consistent with ASHA
Legislative Council's and ASHA committees proposed requirements for assistants
Section 1607 A
"One otolaryngologjst" and replace with
"physician" or health profession
B. leave
"will" and don't change to "may"
--the change to "may" would open the door to
appointment of individuals with uncertain qualifications wt7o may
not enjoy the confidence of most of the body of licensees. The
confidence vested in the board derives from the belief that those
who serve on the board come from a pool of qualified
professionals.
Section 1610A
In general too much power
Section 5
P8
Prefer specifics re: amount of fee and how it is to be spent;
need the amount in the rules not the statute
Section 7
P9
Re continuing Ed: there is no way to know if licensure board has
budgeted new fee increase so that is enough to cover costs of
mandatory continuing education; possibly make voluntary at first,
or get a budget set for CE's, and minimally
Section 1619 A
Concern about the word "informal" re disciplinary
action
Pg 10, line 1 &2 The Board does not need the power to impose fines of $10,000 or impose supervision requirements
Pg 10 line 15 & 16 Need code of ethics consistent with ASHA's
P 10, lines 23 - 26, Medicaid/Medicare is redundant; strike the whole paragraph
(covered by lines 33-36)
10 B. p 11, line 9: 10 days is not long enough time for licensee to prepare for hearing
The new law(1616 p 9, lines 17-28! There should be wording that recognizes the impact of technology on the delivery of continuing education. A wording should be developed that permits our license holders to obtain continuing education in a current fashion. There is an ASHA cmte working on this
The publication of the licensure directory should be accomplished each year, not every other year, as this is the official document of record of currency for licensure.
The Executive Secretary's roles and responsibilities are not explained adequately, and there are concern about the extent to which such an employed staff member may assume responsibilities properly delegated to the board. Expected qualifications serving in this capacity should be clarified by the board whether or not this is included in the law or the board rules. Furthermore, to avoid the appearance of conflict of interest it is suggested that individuals hired in the capacity of the executive secretary not have served on the board during the past 3 years. The board should avoid the appearance of creating a paid position of one of its members.
Overall Comments:
There should be careful review of the law, public hearing to include both professional and consumer groups and following that we may develop a consistent and professionally current set of amendments. Our licensure law should protect both the practice and the public.
690: 1-3-10 and
690:1-3-11
It is not clear if the duties of the secretary and the executive
secretary are consistent with the statute. This confusion
continues throughout the rules.
690:5-5-8
How are sanctions going to be determined?
690:10-3-2, 690: 10-9-1,
690:10-9-2
Has a cost analysis been performed to determine the amount of
annual income needed by the Board to meet expenses (one-time
expenses separated ~om continuing expenses)?
SECTION 5 of the statute states "All licensing fees, renewal
fees, and replacement fees shall be fixed by the Board...will be
sufficient to meet expenses...so there are no unnecessary
surpluses....
If a cost analysis has been performed, licensees should have access to it. If a cost analysis has not been performed, how were the proposed application fee increase of 100% and the proposed renewal fee increase of 200% developed? How will this money be used?
690:10-3-4
(b)
The change in academic requirements should be made now since
graduate students currently meet the requirements in 690:10-3-4
(c) for ASHA certification.
690:10-3-5
(a)
(1)
The change in supervised clinical practicum requirements should
be made now since graduate students currently meet the
requirements in 690:10-3-5 (c) for ASHA certification.
690: 10-3-4 and
690:10-3-5
Students graduating with a master's degree or its equivalent ~om
an ASHA CAA accredited program must currently meet the proposed
academic and clinical requirements to go into affect after
December 31, 1999. In order to reduce paperwork for the Board, I
suggest that the chair or program director of the CAA accredited
program sign a form verifying academic course work and clinical
practicum for an applicant meeting the proposed requirements.
690:10-3-8
(b) How will ASHA CEUs equate with continuing education clock
hours?
(c) "The university academic hour is equal to fifteen (15)
clock hours..." How does this equate with (g) "...three
(3) units will be given for each one (1) hour that is taught.
.."?
(d) Will programs that offer ASHA CEUs be exempted from
pre-approval?
(e) What fee structure is the Board considering?
(c) and (e) Ifa speech pathologist or audiologist was asked to
present a workshop to ABC company,
Who applies to the Board for pre-approval of CEUs - the person doing the workshop or ABC company?
Who pays the fee for pre-approval of CEUs - the person doing the workshop or ABC company?
If the Board approves CEUs, both the person doing the workshop and the employees of ABC company may obtain CEU credit for the workshop - is this correct?
SUBCHAPTER 5
It appears that a clinical experience intern may not use the term speech pathologist or audiologist. If this is correct, I would like for the Board to explain why?
690:10-9-3
The sentence is icnomplete. "...fee of fifty dollars ($50.00)