As a physical therapist, your service ensures that people enjoy a good quality of life after suffering a devastating accident or an illness that impacts their mobility. It also involves working closely with your patients and their families. While it is a generally rewarding profession, it is not devoid of challenges, especially when you face accusations that threaten your professional license.

When the licensing board for California physical therapists opens an investigation against you, you could face temporary or permanent suspension or revocation of your license. You cannot serve or accept new clients until the board reinstates your license. It helps to speak to a skilled license attorney who understands your challenges and can help you fight if you face a board investigation in Kern County.

We could help you obtain a favorable outcome for your case at Kern County License Attorney. Our license attorneys have the skills, experience, and dedication to protect your rights and put up a solid defense against your accusations.

The Crucial Role of a Physical Therapist

An accident can affect many people’s ability to perform essential life functions. Physical injuries resulting from accidents are disabling, causing some people to lose hope in life. Some cases are more severe than others, which gives some people hope to overcome their disabilities and start life afresh. This is where the need for physical therapy comes in.

Chronic health conditions threaten other people’s physical abilities. When you suffer from chronic pain and cannot move your body for days or weeks, your general well-being is at risk. While giving up seems like the best solution at that point, a physical therapist restores the hope of living a meaningful life again.

Physical therapists are trained individuals who work closely with people whose physical abilities prevent them from performing essential life functions, like walking, talking, feeding, or bathing themselves. Becoming a physical therapist requires more than five years of training in various areas, including neuro-anatomy and bio-mechanisms. You must also gain on-the-job training to become an expert in the field. Once you have the skills and experience, you must pass a state licensing examination to become a certified service provider. And since new technologies continuously evolve in the medical industry, you must constantly refresh your training to serve even better.

Even after obtaining the requirements to serve as a licensed physical therapist in California, you must do more to safeguard your reputation and license. This is because an official complaint against you by your patient, family, employer, or board can threaten what you have worked so hard to achieve.

Your patients are the most important people in your career as a licensed physical therapist. However, they can instantly cause you to lose it all if they are dissatisfied with your performance. Sometimes, patients or their families set unrealistic goals or harbor unrealistic expectations when undergoing physical therapy. If these expectations or goals are unmet, they can direct their frustrations on you, however hard you work to do right. Remember that treatments do not always work the same for all patients, and so does physical therapy. Some clients will not register progress. Others will only achieve a fraction of their goals.

Other times, you only make an honest mistake, which triggers a board investigation and threatens your license.

But you can fight for your license and career with the help of a skilled license attorney. An experienced attorney who understands how administrative processes against physical therapists work will help you navigate all processes successfully. They will also challenge the accusations and complaints against you and help you fight for a reasonable outcome.

The Physical Therapist Board Disciplinary Guidelines

The Physical Therapist Board aims to protect the public, especially people needing physical therapy services, against professional misconduct, exploitation, and poor-quality services by licensed physical therapists. It also ensures that the quality of services rendered is as per the guidelines laid down. Thus, according to the Business and Professionals Act, the Physical Therapists Act, and other regulations, the board ensures all certified physical therapists are accountable for their services. This way, patients are served by competent professionals at all times.

To achieve its mandate, the board must be careful when issuing licenses to individuals seeking to join the profession. It provides strict requirements for anyone wishing to serve as a physical therapist in California. The board also suspends and revokes professional licenses whenever there is a need. If you fail to adhere to the state regulations for physical therapists, you could lose your license temporarily or permanently. If the board puts your license on probation, you must meet specific requirements to have it reinstated.

The board’s disciplinary guidelines are available on its website. They detail the board’s suggestions to administrative judges, who preside over disciplinary hearings once the board receives a complaint against a particular licensed physical therapist. Here are some of the actions that could cause the board to take disciplinary action against you:

  • If you are addicted to alcohol or regulated substances, and the addiction affects how you discharge your duties,
  • If you have an arrest or conviction for a particular felony or misdemeanor, which substantially affects your capacity to serve your patients safely,
  • If you acquire your professional license through fraud,
  • If you commit insurance fraud by charging insurance providers for services you have not rendered.
  • If you receive or ask for kickbacks for referring patients to other professionals,
  • For misleading or false advertising.
  • Professional misconduct with your patients or their family members.
  • If you have a DUI arrest or conviction, even if it did not occur during your working hours,
  • For excessively prescribing or offering treatment.
  • Sexual misconduct with your patients.
  • Sexual harassment, verbal, or physical abuse.
  • Incompetent or negligent practice.
  • If you suffer from a mental, emotional, or physical condition that makes you incapable of safely serving your patients.
  • Providing false or misleading nutritional advice to your patients.
  • Going beyond the provisions of your professional license in service delivery.
  • Allowing anyone who is inadequately licensed to work under you in a position that requires licensing.
  • Failing to supervise your assistants.
  • Failing to adhere to guidelines for infection control.
  • Failing to maintain patient confidentiality.
  • Failing or refusing to provide your patient’s medical records when necessary.
  • Altering, falsifying, or poor maintenance of patient records.
  • Violating your probation conditions when the board places your license on probation.

Remember that once the board receives a complaint against you, it will investigate. However, the board only investigates substantiated complaints. Only some complaints end up in the disciplinary panel since the board dismisses most of them if sufficient evidence supports the allegations. However, you could risk losing your license and the career you have worked hard for if you fail to take immediate action after the board initiates an investigation against you. Remember that all allegations, even those that seem minor, threaten your license. Thus, you must talk to a skilled attorney for advice and guidance.

An experienced attorney will know the kind of action to take, depending on the nature of the complaint and the allegations you face. They could gather and table compelling evidence during or before the administrative hearing to compel the judge to dismiss your charges. They could also negotiate a reasonable settlement with the administrative judge, allowing you to keep your license. You could face a monthly mandatory license suspension and be placed on probation for up to three years. However, you will be able to practice while on probation. The action your attorney and the judges take depends on the nature of the allegations.

An attorney will also ensure you do not compromise your situation further by failing to appear at the hearing. They could file a Notification for Defense on your behalf. Then, you can fight your allegations and improve your chance of obtaining a favorable outcome. If the administrative judges place you on probation, they could start with a suspension to promote safe practice. If you are alleged to abuse drugs, the committee could ask for a clinical diagnostic examination before reinstating your license. The judges can also order a psychological or physical exam, further education, or anything else to minimize the possibility of a similar complaint.

However, if your actions are dangerous to public safety, the judges can temporarily suspend your license pending the investigation and determination of your case. An aggressive attorney can challenge that suspension to help you continue practicing in the inquiry.

Other Disciplinary Actions That The Board Can Take Against You

Remember that the three main disciplinary actions the board can take against a physical therapist for professional misconduct are license suspension, revocation, and probation. However, these are only some of the options available to the board. Sometimes, the board takes less severe disciplinary actions, including the following:

  • Citations and fines.
  • Public reprimand letters.

Instead of holding a hearing to determine a physical therapist’s case, the board can decide to publicly reprimand or reprove them for their professional misconduct. While this seems like a less severe disciplinary action, the reprimand is usually public. This means many people, including your current and potential patients, will see it. Thus, it can still affect your profession.

Typically, the board issues a reprimand in the following situations:

  • If your case is isolated, way in the past, and there is a possibility of repeating the violation.
  • You have admitted to the mistake and have shown remorse.
  • If the case is drug-related, you have participated in rehabilitation.

Remember that a reprimand is mainly used for minor violations that cause a patient or family minimal or no harm.

Other times, the board uses citations and fines as a form of discipline against professional misconduct by physical therapists. A citation requires you to attend a disciplinary hearing, from which the judge will state the fine you must pay for the misconduct. The fine can be expensive or cheap, depending on the case. For example, you can pay from $1,000 to $5,000. The board uses citations and fines for very minor violations. However, the citation is also publicly available. This means others, including your patients, their families, and employers, will see it.

Reprimands and citations are sometimes accompanied by an abatement order, which prohibits repeating the actions for which the disciplinary action was taken.

A skilled attorney can help you fight the reprimand or citation. Even though they are less severe, disciplinary actions, citations, and reprimands taint your reputation since they remain on record. Your attorney can request a formal hearing or an informal conference to challenge the citation or reprimand. If successful, the board will remove it from the record. If the fine is expensive, your attorney can also fight for a lower amount. Your attorney must take action within a particular timeline for their petition to be received and acted upon by the board.

Denied License Application

A skilled license attorney will also help you obtain approval for your physical therapist license application. Regardless of your qualifications, a prior criminal record can cause problems when applying for a professional license. Your attorney can help you gather additional documents and fight against any obstacles that could create a challenge. For example, if the board has denied your application for the reinstatement of your license, your attorney can start by helping you obtain a probationary license. Once you serve your probation successfully, you can demonstrate to the board your willingness and ability to comply with all set conditions.

Find a Competent License Attorney Near Me

Working as a physical therapist in Kern County is very fulfilling. But it has challenges, especially if there are allegations or complaints against you. Sadly, the Board of Physical Therapists takes these allegations and complaints seriously and can suspend, revoke, or place your license on probation. This means you risk losing a career you have worked hard to build. But we can help you fight for a favorable outcome for your situation at Kern County License Attorney. We have high skills and extensive experience handling all kinds of cases related to professional licenses. Call us at 805-702-8560 to learn about your options and our services.