Alabama Administrative Code › Title 540 - ALABAMA BOARD OF MEDICAL EXAMINERS › Chapter 540-X-7 - ASSISTANTS TO PHYSICIANS › Section 540-X-7-.01 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 42, No. 9, June 28, 2024
The following definitions shall apply to these rules:
(1) APPROVED PROGRAM: A program for the
			 education and training of assistants to physicians which has been formally
			 approved in writing by the Board.
(2) ASSISTANT TO PHYSICIAN. A person who is a
			 graduate of an approved program, is licensed by the Board, and is registered by
			 the Board to perform medical services under the supervision of a physician
			 approved by the Board to supervise the assistant.
(3) BOARD. The Board of Medical Examiners of
			 the State of Alabama.
(4)
			 CONTINUAL. Repeated regularly and frequently in steady rapid
			 succession.
(5) DIRECT MEDICAL
			 INTERVENTION. Physical presence of a physician to attend the patient as defined
			 in the registration agreement protocol.
(6) FCVS, Federation Credentials Verification
			 Service. A credentials verification service provided by the Federation of State
			 Medical Boards that assistants to physicians may use to verify core credentials
			 in connection with applications for licensure. The Board of Medical Examiners
			 will accept those verified primary source records of credentials provided by
			 FCVS in lieu of equivalent documentation required to be submitted with an
			 application for licensure where designated in these rules. Applicants are
			 responsible for payment of all fees charged by FCVS. Use of FCVS by an
			 applicant is optional.
(7)
			 GUIDELINES. The written guidelines established by the Board pursuant to Act
			 94-261 in the most current version which concern the prescribing practices of
			 assistants to physicians and which do not require publication in accordance
			 with the Alabama Administrative Procedures Act.
(8) LEGEND DRUG. Any drug, medicine, chemical
			 or poison, bearing on the label the words, "Caution, Federal Law prohibits
			 dispensing without prescription" or similar words indicating that the drug,
			 medicine, chemical or poison may be sold or dispensed only upon the
			 prescription of a licensed medical practitioner, except that the term legend
			 drug shall not include any drug, substance or compound which is listed in
			 Schedules I through V of the Alabama Uniform Controlled Substances
			 Act.
(9) PHYSICIAN. A person who is
			 licensed to practice medicine in this state and is approved by the Board to
			 supervise assistants to physicians.
(10) PHYSICIAN SUPERVISION. A formal
			 relationship between a licensed assistant to a physician and a licensed
			 physician under which the assistant to the physician is authorized to practice
			 as evidenced by a written job description approved by the Board. Physician
			 supervision requires that there shall be at all times a direct, continuing and
			 close supervisory relationship between the assistant to the physician and the
			 physician to whom that assistant is registered. The term (4) CONTINUAL.
			 Repeated regularly and frequently in steady rapid succession.
(11) PRESCRIBE OR PRESCRIBING. The act of
			 issuing a written prescription for a legend drug.
(12) PRESCRIPTION. An order for a legend drug
			 which is written and signed by an assistant to a physician authorized to
			 prescribe and administer the drug and which is intended to be filled,
			 compounded, or dispensed by a pharmacist. The term "prescription" does not
			 include an order for medication which is dispensed for immediate administration
			 to the ultimate user. (e.g., an order to dispense a drug to a bed patient for
			 immediate administration in a hospital is not a prescription.)
(13) READILY AVAILABLE. Response by the
			 supervising or covering physician by telephone or telecommunication for
			 consultation, referral or direct medical intervention for a patient as
			 indicated by the needs of the patient and based on usual and customary
			 standards of medical practice.
(14)
			 REMOTE PRACTICE SITE. An approved site for a registration agreement without a
			 supervising or covering physician on-site. The supervising physician's
			 principal practice site, acute care hospitals, skilled nursing facilities,
			 licensed, special-care assisted living facilities and licensed assisted living
			 facilities are not remote practice sites for the purpose of these
			 rules.
(15) TRAINEE. A person who
			 is currently enrolled in an approved program in this
			 state.
Author:
Alabama Board of Medical
				  Examiners
Statutory Authority:
Code of Ala.
				  1975
, §§
										34-24-290,
et
.
seq
.