Alabama Administrative Code › Title 540 - ALABAMA BOARD OF MEDICAL EXAMINERS › Chapter 540-X-13 - ALABAMA PHYSICIAN HEALTH PROGRAM › Section 540-X-13-.05 - Policy Guidelines

Current through Register Vol. 42, No. 9, June 28, 2024
It is the purpose and intent of the Board that the Alabama
				Physician Health Program be a confidential nonpunitive alternative to
				disciplinary sanction for impaired physicians who voluntarily seek medical
				intervention, evaluation, treatment, counseling or rehabilitation for their
				impairment. To that end, the Board hereby adopts the following policy
				guidelines to be used by the Alabama Physician Wellness Committee in
				implementing the Alabama Physician Health Program:
(1) A physician voluntarily seeking the
			 assistance of the committee for treatment of an impairment who successfully
			 completes the recommended course of treatment and therapy and who continues to
			 abide by the terms and conditions of the committee's after-care agreements for
			 the period of time specified and thereafter continues to practice medicine with
			 reasonable skill and safety and free from impairment will not be reported by
			 the committee to the Board for violation of
Code of Ala. 1975,
			 §
									34-24-360(19)
. However, a physician participating in programs of treatment
			 and/or rehabilitation and after-care must always truthfully answer all
			 inquiries concerning such treatment made by employers, state or federal
			 licensing and/or regulatory agencies, hospital medical staff credentialing
			 bodies, courts, medical malpractice insurance carriers, and medical specialty
			 Boards. The Physician Wellness Committee will serve as an advocate on behalf of
			 and lend support to physicians participating in programs sponsored or
			 recommended by the committee before such agencies and organizations. A report
			 by a licensed physician to the Physician Wellness Committee that such physician
			 has reason to believe that any other licensed physician is impaired, shall be
			 deemed to be a report to the Board of Medical Examiners for the purpose of the
			 mandatory reporting requirements of
Code of Ala. 1975
,
			 §
								34-24-361(b).
(2) Should the Board as a result of an
			 investigation determine that there is cause to believe that a physician may be
			 impaired, the Board may administratively report that fact to the committee with
			 a request or Board Order that the individual be evaluated to determine whether
			 an impairment exists. The Board will make available to the committee such
			 information as is necessary to accomplish an intervention and evaluation. The
			 committee will report its findings and recommendations to the Board and provide
			 follow-up reports upon request.
(3)
			 The committee must report to the Board the name of any physician the committee
			 has reason to believe may be impaired and
(a)
			 who has failed or refused to follow the recommendations of the committee for
			 evaluation, treatment and/or rehabilitation, or
(b) who has discontinued such evaluation,
			 treatment or rehabilitation against medical advice, or
(c) who has failed to abide by the terms and
			 conditions of an after-care agreement with the committee, or
(d) whose continuation in practice, in the
			 opinion of the committee, constitutes a threat to the safety of his or her
			 patients or to the public.