Pennsylvania Code › Title 49 - PROFESSIONAL AND VOCATIONAL STANDARDS › Part I - DEPARTMENT OF STATE › Subpart A - PROFESSIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL AFFAIRS › Chapter 33 - STATE BOARD OF DENTISTRY › Subchapter C - MINIMUM STANDARDS OF CONDUCT AND PRACTICE › Section 33.214 - Disclosure of financial or ownership interest-statement of policy

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
(a)
Purpose.
This section provides guidelines for compliance with
					 the act of May 26, 1988 (P. L. 403, No. 66) (35 P. S. §§
												449.21-449.23), which requires practitioners
					 of the healing arts, before referring a patient to a facility or entity engaged
					 in providing health-related services, tests, pharmaceuticals, appliances or
					 devices, to disclose to the patient any financial or ownership interest of the
					 practitioner in the facility or entity.
(b)
Definitions.
The
					 following words and terms, when used in this section, have the following
					 meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
Appliances
or
devices
-The term includes therapeutic equipment, instruments
						and prosthetic appliances.
Disclose to the patient
-The
						practitioner of the healing arts makes known to the patient at the time a
						referral is made that the practitioner has a financial or ownership interest in
						the facility or entity to which the patient is referred. The practitioner shall
						also inform the patient of the patient's freedom to choose an alternate
						provider.
Facility
or
entity
-The
						term includes another practitioner of the healing arts, licensed health care
						practitioner, partnership, association, group practice, business corporation
						and professional corporation not on the premises of the practitioner.
Financial interest of the practitioner or
						ownership by the practitioner in the facility or entity
-A financial or
						ownership interest to any extent or degree, including interests held by the
						practitioner, the practitioner's spouse or the practitioner's minor
						children.
Health-related services
-The term
						includes radiologic services, physical therapy, counseling and laboratory
						services.
Pharmaceutical
-Pertaining to a drug or
						pharmacy.
Practitioner of the healing arts
-A
						dentist or dental hygienist.
Referral
-The act of prescribing,
						ordering, directing, redirecting or recommending to a patient a specific
						facility or entity which provides a health-related service, test,
						pharmaceutical, appliance or device, either by means of prescription,
						recommended course of treatment, or direction concerning diagnostic or
						therapeutic treatment or services.
Test
-The term includes a test necessary
						for dental diagnosis or treatment.
(c)
Use of patient disclosure
					 forms.
(1) It is the practitioner's
					 responsibility to disclose to the patient a financial or ownership interest
					 when making a referral covered by the act. Meaningful disclosure shall be given
					 to each patient at the time a referral is made. The disclosure may be made
					 orally or in writing. In either event, the Board recommends that the disclosure
					 be memorialized, dated and signed at the time of referral by the practitioner
					 and the patient, and that the practitioner maintain written evidence of the
					 disclosure. If the practitioner delegates the disclosure to another person in
					 the practitioner's office, the Board recommends that the disclosure be
					 memorialized, dated and signed by the person making the disclosure and the
					 patient.
(2) The memorialization of
					 the disclosure shall be substantially in the following form:
I ACKNOWLEDGE THAT I HAVE BEEN ADVISED BY MY
						DENTIST/DENTAL HYGIENIST THAT HE/SHE HAS A FINANCIAL OR OWNERSHIP INTEREST IN
						THE FACILITY OR ENTITY TO WHICH HE/SHE HAS REFERRED ME, AND THAT HE/SHE HAS
						ADVISED ME THAT I AM FREE TO CHOOSE ANOTHER FACILITY OR ENTITY TO PROVIDE THE
						SERVICE, DRUG, DEVICE OR EQUIPMENT.
(3) In an enforcement proceeding before the
					 Board, the memorialization referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2) shall
					 constitute presumptive evidence that the practitioner made the required
					 disclosure. The disclosure to the patient is not, however, the act of the
					 patient signing the form but is, rather, the act of the practitioner disclosing
					 to the patient the practitioner's financial or ownership interest and advising
					 the patient of the patient's freedom of choice.