Florida Administrative Code › 64 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH › 64B11 - Board of Occupational Therapy › Chapter 64B11-4 - OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY BOARD - STANDARDS OF PRACTICE › Section 64B11-4.001 - Use of Prescription Devices

Current through Reg. 50, No. 138; July 16, 2024
(1)
				Electrical Stimulation Device.
(a) Use of an
				electrical stimulation device for which a prescription is required by Federal
				law, 21 C.F.R. §801.109, is expressly prohibited by Section
				468.203(4),
				F.S., except by an occupational therapist or an occupational therapy assistant
				who has received training as prescribed in this rule.
(b) For purposes of this rule, an "electrical
				stimulation device" is any device for which a prescription is required which
				employs transcutaneous electric current (direct, alternating, or pulsatile) for
				therapeutic purposes.
(c) The
				training required for students, postgraduates, and licensees to qualify for the
				use of an electrical stimulation device shall include didactic training of at
				least four (4) hours and performance of at least five (5) treatments under
				supervision in a clinical setting. The required training may be obtained
				through educational programs, workshops, or seminars offered at a college or
				university approved for training of occupational therapists by the American
				Occupational Therapy Association or of physical therapists by the American
				Physical Therapy Association or at clinical facilities affiliated with such
				accredited colleges or universities or through educational programs offered by
				the American Society of Hand Therapists or Florida Occupational Therapy
				Association. Didactic training may be in person or from interactive, real-time
				courses. An interactive, real-time course may be a web-based, satellite
				transmitted, or video conference, or online instruction program that allows or
				requires the licensee to interact in real time, including live chat, with the
				instructor during the presentation of the program.
(d) Supervised treatment sessions shall be
				conducted under the personal supervision of licensed occupational therapists
				and occupational therapy assistants who have completed four hours of coursework
				in the use of electrical stimulation devices and five (5) supervised treatments
				or licensed physical therapists and physical therapist assistants trained in
				the use of electrical stimulation devices. Treatment supervisors must have a
				minimum of 24 months prior experience in the use of electrical stimulation
				devices. Personal supervision means that the supervisor is in the room with the
				trainees and actively provides guidance and supervision of the performance
				treatments.
(e) The training
				provided which teaches the therapeutic uses of electrical stimulation devices
				shall provide for the following minimum competency level:
1. Standards.
a. The expected outcome of treatments with
				Therapeutic Electrical Current (hereinafter T.E.C.) must be consistent with the
				goals of treatment.
b. Treatment
				with T.E.C. must be safe, administered to the correct area, and be of proper
				dosage.
c. Treatment with T.E.C.
				must be adequately documented.
2. Current Duration and Mode.
a. Ability to determine the duration and mode
				of current appropriate to the patient's neurophysiological status while
				understanding Ohm's Law of electricity, physical laws related to the passage of
				current through various media, as well as impedance.
b. Ability to describe normal
				electrophysiology of nerve and muscle; understanding generation of
				bioelectrical signals in nerve and muscle; recruitment of motor units in normal
				muscle and in response to a variety of external stimuli.
c. Ability to describe normal and abnormal
				tissue responses to external electrical stimuli while understanding the
				differing responses to varieties of current duration, frequency and intensity
				of stimulation.
3.
				Selection of Method and Equipment.
a. Ability
				to identify equipment with the capability of producing the preselected duration
				and mode.
b. Ability to describe
				characteristics of electrotherapeutic equipment and understanding the
				therapeutic value of different electrotherapeutic equipment.
c. Ability to describe safety regulations
				governing the use of electrotherapeutic equipment.
d. Ability to describe principles of
				electrical currents.
e. Ability to
				describe requirements/idiosyncrasies of body areas and pathological conditions
				with respect to electrotherapeutic treatment.
4. Preparation of Treatment.
Ability to prepare the patient for treatment through
				  positioning and adequate instructions.
5. Treatment Administration.
a. Ability to correctly operate equipment and
				appropriately adjust the intensity and current while understanding rate of
				stimulation, identification of motor points, and physiological effects
				desired.
b. Ability to adjust the
				intensity and rate to achieve the optimal response, based on the pertinent
				evaluative data.
6.
				Documentation of Treatments.
Ability to document treatment including immediate and
				  long-term effects of therapeutic electrical current.
(f) Any occupational therapist or
				occupational therapy assistant who uses such electrical stimulation device
				shall, upon request of the Board, or the Department, present proof that he or
				she has obtained the training required by this rule.