Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0880-02-.11 - OFFICERS, RECORDS, MEETING REQUESTS, CERTIFICATES OF FITNESS, REPLACEMENT LICENSES, CONSULTANTS, ADVISORY RULINGS, DECLARATORY ORDERS AND SCREENING PANELS

(1) Officers - The Board shall elect every second year from its members the following officers who shall hold office for two years or until the election of a successor who shall fulfill the remainder of the predecessor's term:

(a) President - who shall preside over all Board meetings.

(b) Vice President - who shall preside over Board meetings in the absence of the President.

(c) Secretary - who along with the Board Administrator shall be responsible for correspondence from the Board.

(2) Records and Requests -

(a) Minutes of the board meetings and all records, documents, applications, and correspondence will be maintained in the Board's Administrative Offices.

(b) All requests, applications, notices, complaints, other communications and correspondence shall be directed to the Board's administrative office.

(c) Meeting Agenda Deadline - With the exception of documents relating to disciplinary actions, declaratory orders or hearing requests, any requests or inquiries requiring a Board decision or official Board action must be received in the Board's administrative office fourteen (14) days prior to a scheduled Board meeting. Requests or inquiries timely received will be retained in the administrative office and presented to the Board at the Board meeting. Requests or inquiries not timely received shall be set over to the next Board meeting.

(3) Requests for Certificate of Fitness or Duplicate or Replacement Licenses -

(a) Requests for certificates of fitness for licensees desiring to practice in another state must be made in writing to the Board Administrative Office.

(b) Requests for duplicate or replacement licenses must be made in writing to the Board Administrative Office and be accompanied by the fee provided in rule 0880-02-.02.

(4) Consultants - The Board members or a physician designated by the Board are individually vested with authority as consultants to the Board to do the following acts:

(a) Review and make recommendations on licensure, certification, exemption, renewal, reinstatement and reactivation applications subject to the rules governing those respective applications.

(b) Decide the following:

1. What, if any, investigation should be instituted upon complaints received by the Division.

2. Whether a licensee who is the subject of a complaint received and/or an investigation conducted by the Division is an appropriate candidate pursuant to Board established guidelines for diversion to a professional peer review organization and/or impaired professional association.

3. What, if any, disciplinary actions should be instituted upon investigations conducted by the Division.

4. What, if any, terms of settlements should be offered in formal disciplinary matters based upon investigations conducted by the Division. A proposed settlement will not become final unless it is subsequently ratified by the Board or a duly constituted panel of the Board.

5. Whether and under what terms a complaint, case or disciplinary action might be settled. A proposed settlement will not become final unless it is subsequently ratified by the Board or a duly constituted panel of the Board.

(5) The chair(s) of any acting panel(s) of the Board, are authorized to make determinations regarding stays pursuant to rule 1360-04-01-.18 and reconsiderations filed in contested case matters heard before the panel on which they serve. If the contested case is heard before the full Board, the President is authorized to make those determinations.

(6) Advisory Rulings - Any person who is affected by any matter within the jurisdiction of the Board and who holds a license issued pursuant to Chapter 6 of Title 63 of the Tennessee Code Annotated, may submit a written request for an advisory ruling subject to the limitations imposed by T.C.A. § 63-6-101 (a)(4). The procedures for obtaining and issuance of advisory rulings are as follows:

(a) The licensee shall submit the request to the Board Administrative Office on the form contained in paragraph (6)(e) providing all the necessary information; and

(b) The request, upon receipt, shall be referred to the Board's administrative staff for research, review and submission of a proposed ruling to the Board for its consideration at the next meeting after the draft ruling has been approved by the Board's Medical Director and advisory attorney; and

(c) The Board shall review the proposed ruling and either make whatever revisions or substitutions it deems necessary for issuance or refer it back to the administrative staff for further research and drafting recommended by the Board; and

(d) Upon adoption by the Board the ruling shall be transmitted to the requesting licensee. The ruling shall have only such affect as is set forth in T.C.A. § 63-6-101 (a)(4).

(e) Any request for an advisory ruling shall be made on the following form, a copy of which may be obtained from the Board's Administrative Office:

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(7) Declaratory Orders - The Board adopts, as if fully set out herein, rule 1200-10-01-.11, of the Division of Health Related Boards and as it may from time to time be amended, as its rule governing the declaratory order process. All declaratory order petitions involving statutes, rules or orders within the jurisdiction of the Board shall be addressed by the Board pursuant to that rule and not by the Division. Declaratory Order Petition forms can be obtained from the Board's administrative office.

(8) Screening Panels - Any screening panel(s) established pursuant to T.C.A. § 63-6-214 (i):

(a) Shall have concurrent authority with the Board members and any individual physician designated by the Board pursuant to paragraph (4), to do the acts enumerated in paragraph (4) (b) subject to the conditions contained therein.

1. A Screening panel(s) comprised of two (2) or more persons shall elect a chairperson prior to convening to conduct business.

2. A screening panel(s) comprised of two (2) or more persons is required to conduct the informal hearings authorized in subparagraph (b) immediately below.

(b) After completion of an investigation by the Division, may upon request of either the state, or the licensee who is the subject of an investigation but only with the agreement of the state, or upon request of both the licensee and the state, conduct a non-binding informal hearing and make recommendations as a result thereof as to what, if any, terms of settlement of any potential disciplinary action are appropriate.

1. Neither the Rules of Civil Procedure, the Rules of Alternative Dispute Resolution, the Rules of Evidence or Contested Case Procedural Rules under the Administrative Procedures Act shall apply in informal hearings before the screening panel(s).

(i) Evidence may be presented or received in any manner and in whatever order agreed upon by the parties.

(ii) Prior to convening the panel and in the absence of an agreement of the parties, the screening panel chairperson shall determine the manner and order of presentation of evidence.

2. Informal hearings may be conducted without the participation of the licensee who is the subject of the investigation.

3. A licensee who is the subject of an investigation being considered by a screening panel cannot be compelled to participate in any informal hearing.

4. It is not required that prior or subsequent notice of any informal hearing be given to any licensee who is the subject of an investigation being considered by a screening panel.

5. Proposed settlements reached as a result of any informal hearing will not become binding and final unless they are:

(i) Approved by a majority of the members of the screening panel which issued them; and

(ii) Agreed to by both the Department of Health, by and through its attorney(s), and the licensee; and

(iii) Subsequently presented to and ratified by the Board or a duly constituted panel of the Board.

Notes

Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0880-02-.11

Original Rule filed February 26, 1991; effective April 12, 1991. Amendment filed August 26, 1998; effective November 9, 1998. Amendment filed April 16, 1999; effective June 30, 1999. Withdrawal to Amendment of rule 0880-02(8)(c) filed and effective November 12, 1999. Amendment filed August 30, 1999; effective November 13, 1999. Amendment filed April 10, 2000; effective June 24, 2000. Amendment filed September 5, 2002; effective November 19, 2002. Amendments filed February 1, 2017; effective 5/2/2017.

Authority: T.C.A. §§ 4-5-105, 4-5-202, 4-5-204, 4-5-223, 4-5-224, 4-5-225, 63-1-118 (b), 63-1-106 (c), 63-6-101, 63-6-101 (a), 63-6-103, 63-6-201, 63-6-207, 63-6-209, 63-6-210, 63-6-211, 63-6-212, 63-6-213, and 63-6-214.