Rules 4755-5-01 and 4755-5-06

There were only technical changes made to these two rules.

Rule 4755-9-01

The amendment to rule 4755-9-01 expanded the one hour of ethics requirement to now state that all licensees must complete at least one hour of ethics, jurisprudence, or cultural competence each renewal period. Licensees can still meet this requirement by completing the Ohio Occupational Therapy Jurisprudence Exam.

Rule 4755-27-01

There were two main changes to rule 4755-27-01. The first change added “CPT” and “cPT” to the list of letters that are title protected. The second change added a definition of “telehealth” and clarified that if the patient is physically located in Ohio, a PT or PTA providing physical therapy via telehealth must hold a valid Ohio license.

 Rule 4755-29-01

 The first change to rule 4755-29-01 reflects a change to the Ohio Revised Code that added physician assistants to the list of healthcare practitioners from whom a physical therapist may accept a referral. The other change clarifies that, when seeing a patient under the direct access provisions for fitness, wellness, or prevention purposes, the physician notification requirement does not apply.

Rules 4755-41-01, 4755-41-03, 4755-43-01, 4755-43-02, 4755-44-02, and 4755-47-03

There were only technical changes made to these six rules.

Rule 4755-42-03

This new rule clarifies that all licensees must use the initials “AT” or “A.T.” following their name to indicate that the individual is currently licensed. For example, a licensee could list their name as Jane Doe, MS, AT, ATC. The rule would not allow a licensee to only use ATC. In addition, the Board of Certification prohibits individuals from using ATC/L to indicate both licensure and current BOC certification.

Rule 4755-43-04

Under the current rules, applicants that graduated prior to 2004 are required to submit a course by course listing of their athletic training education. In many cases, these individuals have been actively practicing athletic training in another state for more than ten (10) years. Under the amendment to rule 4755-43-04, if an applicant did not graduate from a CAATE accredited athletic training education program, the applicant’s education will be deemed to meet Ohio law if the applicant passed the BOC certification exam and if the applicant has engaged in the practice of athletic training in another state for at least five years immediately preceding the date the application is submitted.

At its March 7, 2013, meeting, the members of the Ohio Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Athletic Trainers Board voted to reduce the renewal fee for all five license types (OT, OTA, PT, PTA, AT) from $80 to $70. This $10 reduction goes into effect on July 1, 2013. Based on long range revenue and expenditure projections conducted by Board staff, anticipated revenues should cover all planned expenditures without needing a renewal fee increase until 2020.

If you have any questions about this decision, please email the Board at board@otptat.ohio.gov.

It has recently come to the Board’s attention that licensees may be selling and/or renting TENS units without possessing a Home Medical Equipment (HME) license. Section 4752.02 of the Ohio Revised Code, which is enforced by the Ohio Respiratory Care Board, requires a HME license to sell or rent home medical equipment, which includes TENS units. Individual licensees are exempt from the HME license requirement ONLY if they do not sell or rent the HME.

If you are selling or renting TENS units without an HME license, the Board recommends that you cease that practice immediately. If you continue to rent or sell without an HME license, you are at risk for civil penalties, fines, and criminal prosecution.

To obtain information on how to obtain an HME license, please review the information available at http://respiratorycare.ohio.gov/HomeMedicalEquipmentHome.aspx.

If you have any questions about Home Medical Equipment licensure in Ohio, please contact the Respiratory Care Board directly.

The Board meeting calendar for 2013 has been posted to the website. You can view a pdf of the meeting calendar and other important dates by going to the Calendar link in the Information menu on the left column of this page.

In March 2011, the Board established a Twitter feed. Licensees can follow Tweets from the Board at http://twitter.com/OhioOTPTATBd. At the end of November 2011, the Board established a Facebook page. You can "Like" the Board at https://www.facebook.com/OhioOTPTATBoard to get updates from the Board.

The Board will still use the listservs and this official website to update licensees on issues related to the regulation of occupational therapy, physical therapy, and athletic training in Ohio.

On May 1, 2010, the rules for all three Sections were amended to eliminate pocket identification cards. The amended rules require licensees to have available at all locations of service delivery a copy of the licensee's current license information from the Ohio e-License Center.

During the renewal process, you can verify the successful processing of your renewal application by checking the expiration date of your license from the "License Lookup/Verification" link on the Board's website. When the Board has finished processing your renewal application, your expiration date will switch to the new date and your status will become either "Active" or "Active in Renewal-Paid". If your status is still "Active in Renewal" or if your expiration date did not change, your renewal was not successfully processed by the Board.