Recent News

Emergency rule for the delegation of laser hair removal to Cosmetic Therapists

April 9, 2021    34    34   

Effective April 9, 2021, the Medical Board has adopted an emergency rule that allows physicians to continue to delegate laser hair removal to cosmetic therapists licensed by the Medical Board on or prior to April 11, 2021. This emergency rule will expire on August 8, 2021.

During this time, the Medical Board will also file permanent rules to allow physicians to continue delegation of laser hair removal to cosmetic therapists after the emergency rule expires.

This rule will not change the license status of Cosmetic Therapists due to House Bill 442. Effective April 12, 2021, Cosmetic Therapists will no longer be licensed by the State Medical Board.

Please email contact@med.ohio.gov if you have additional questions.

Board seeking registered nurses

March 25, 2021    205    205   

The Medical Board is seeking part-time, contract registered nurses. Duties include: review and evaluate patient records, billing records, and/or other documents or records provided by the board and provide written analysis as to whether the patient records and/or other documents reflect conduct in accordance with acceptable medical practice, state and federal laws, rules, regulations and administrative memoranda. If interested, please provide resume and contact information to Don Davis at Donald.Davis@med.ohio.gov.

Accepting applications for Dietetics and Respiratory Care Advisory Council members

March 22, 2021    325    325   

The Medical Board is seeking applicants for seats on the Dietetics Advisory Council and the Respiratory Care Advisory Council.

For the Dietetics Advisory Council, the council advises the board on issues related to the practice of dietetics. The time commitment is four (4) meetings per year in Columbus. Council members are reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses such as mileage and parking. The council has upcoming openings for four registered dietitians. 

For the Respiratory Care Advisory Council, the council advises the board on issues related to licensing, existing and proposed rules pertaining to the practice of respiratory care, standards for approval of respiratory care education programs. The time commitment is four (4) meetings per year in Columbus. Council members are reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses such as mileage and parking. The council has upcoming openings for a physician who has clinical training and experience in pulmonary disease as well as a member representing consumers.

The applications can be found below. If you know of any person who meets this criteria and is interested in this great opportunity for community service, please encourage them to fill out an online application.

Dietetics Advisory Council Application

Respiratory Care Advisory Council Application

 

March 2021 eNews

March 17, 2021    227    227   

The March issue of the Medical Board's eNews is available:

• House Bills 404 and 442

• continuing education audits to resume

• COVID-19 updates

• ICD-10 code reminder

• BWCs virtual Medical & Health Symposium

• safety alert regarding hyaluron pens

• duty to report

• death certificates

• new prescriber compounding rules

• subject matter experts

Agenda posted for March 2021 board meeting

March 9, 2021    280    280   

The State Medical Board of Ohio will livestream its committee and board meetings beginning at 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 10.

This open meeting will be shared publicly via livestream on the board's YouTube channel. The agenda can be viewed here.

Advisory Council meetings to be livestreamed

March 8, 2021    209    209   

The State Medical Board of Ohio will livestream its Dietetics and Respiratory Care Advisory Council meetings. These open meetings will both be shared publicly via the board's YouTube page.

Dietetics Advisory Council 3/8, 2:00 p.m. agenda

Respiratory Care Advisory Council 3/9, 2:00 p.m. agenda

House Bill 442 - changes to Ohio law

March 4, 2021    497    497   

On January 7, 2021, Governor DeWine signed House Bill 442 into law. A number of the statutory changes will impact State Medical Board of Ohio licensees.
 
Below is a summary of the changes in Ohio law that become effective April 12, 2021. Licensees are encouraged to read the complete law in the Ohio Revised Code (ORC). The Medical Board has also created an FAQ document to address questions you may have due to these changes. 
 
Cosmetic Therapists 
•    The license requirement for cosmetic therapists in Ohio has been eliminated. Cosmetic therapists will no longer be licensed by the Medical Board or any other licensing entity in Ohio.
•    A definition of cosmetic therapy has been added to Ohio Revised Code chapter 4713, which regulates the Ohio State Cosmetology and Barber Board. The revised chapter indicates that an individual may provide cosmetic therapy in a salon if authorized by the Ohio State Cosmetology and Barber Board.

Oriental Medicine Practitioner 
•    The license requirement for oriental medicine practitioners in Ohio has been eliminated.
•    All oriental medicine licenses will be converted to acupuncture licenses under Medical Board regulation, and licensees will be required to meet Ohio’s continuing education requirements for acupuncture in order to renew their license. The renewal date and license numbers for previous holders of oriental medicine licenses will not change.

Massage Therapy 
•    The amount of education hours required to complete a massage therapy program will be reduced from 750 to 600 hours. The amended education hours must meet the minimum requirements: 
   o    Two hundred seventy-five hours in anatomy and physiology and pathology;
   o    Two hundred seventy-five hours in massage theory and practical, including hygiene;
   o    Twenty-five hours in ethics;
   o    Twenty-five hours in business and law.

Physician Assistant 
•    Changes in the law will now allow the Medical Board to recognize any accrediting organization for physician assistant education programs. Previously, the board required physician assistants to be accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education.

Physicians 
•    The amount of continuing education hours a physician may earn providing health care services as a volunteer will be increased to ten hours, however the accrual rate will change. Five hours of volunteer time will be equal to one hour of CME.
•    Clinical research facility certificate: All qualifications, except an unrestricted license to practice medicine in another state or country and appointment to serve in Ohio on the academic staff of a medical school in good standing with the Medical Board, have been eliminated for this license type. All renewal fees and CME requirements have also been eliminated for this license type.
•    Visiting clinical professional development certificates: All qualification requirements except (1) holds an unrestricted license issued in another country and (2) has been accepted for participation in the clinical professional development program of a medical school that is accredited, as well as the certificate fee, have been eliminated for this license type.
•    Visiting podiatric faculty certificates: This certificate fee for this license type has been eliminated.

February 2020 eNews

February 19, 2021    326    326   

The February issue of the Medical Board's eNews is available:

• Celebrating 125 years

• SMBO Joins Ohio's Human Trafficking Task Force

• House Bill 404

• Scam Alert

• COVID-19 Updates

• Medical Board Reviews Petitions

• Duty to Report

• Licensee Obligation to Complete Death Certificates

• Track Your CE/CME with CE Broker

• Prescriber Compounding Rules, effective March 31

• Board Seeks Subject Matter Experts

Medical Board Considers New Qualifying Conditions

February 10, 2021    1251    1251   

The State Medical Board of Ohio will consider adding the following as qualifying conditions for Ohio’s Medical Marijuana Control Program:

• Autism (2 petitions)
• Huntington’s Disease
• Panic Disorder with Agoraphobia
• Restless Leg Syndrome
• Spasticity and Spasms
• Terminal Illness (2 petitions)

Written public comment on these conditions will be accepted February 11 – February 26, 2021. Anyone may submit their comments by emailing MedicalMarijuana@med.ohio.gov.

 

Petition Process

On Wednesday, February 10, 2021 the board’s Medical Marijuana Committee met and voted to recommend to the full board to reject petitions that did not meet requirements and confirmed petitions that should move forward for expert review and public comment. Later this year, the board will decide if they should be added to the list of conditions which can qualify patients to participate in Ohio’s Medical Marijuana Control Program.

During the submission period, petitions were filed electronically through the state’s website, medicalmarijuana.ohio.gov. A petition needed to include (per Ohio Administrative Code 4731-32-05):

• The name and contact information
• Specific disease or condition requested to be added
• Information from experts who specialize in the study of the disease or condition
• Relevant medical or scientific evidence
• Consideration of whether conventional medical therapies are insufficient to treat or alleviate the disease or condition
• Evidence supporting the use of medical marijuana to treat or alleviate the disease or condition and other types of medical or scientific documentation
• Letters of support provided by physicians

 

The Medical Board received 30 petitions from November 1- December 31, 2020.

16 petitions failed to meet the statutory and rule requirements for consideration by the board. These petitions were recommended for rejection by the committee.  The full board will consider the rejection recommendations at the March 10^th meeting.

6 petitions failed to meet the statutory and rule requirements for consideration by the board. However, these petitions either explicitly petitioned for a condition already covered (e.g., fibromyalgia), or the petition was for a condition closely associated with a condition already covered (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis and chronic pain). These petitions were rejected by the committee.

The petitions for restless leg syndrome, Huntington’s disease, spasticity and spasms and terminal illness will move forward for expert review as the committee felt they met the requirements for consideration and were not previously considered.

Petitions for autism and anxiety were rejected by the board in 2019 and 2020. During their deliberation on February 10, 2021, the committee agreed that the petitions for autism and panic disorder with agoraphobia met the requirements of new scientific information outlined in Ohio Administrative Code 4731-32-05. They will move forward for consideration; however the board will serve as its own expert.

 

Next Steps

Petitions which do meet the requirements for consideration will proceed and be reviewed by subject matter experts. These experts may include physicians who specialize in the named conditions, experts who have experience with medical marijuana programs in other states, etc. Petitions for the same condition will be combined for the reviews.

The committee reviews the subject matter experts’ reports, and then makes a recommendation to the full board for a vote to adopt/deny the petition to add the qualifying conditions. That full board vote is expected this summer.

The Medical Board’s rules (Ohio Administrative Code) for the qualifying conditions can be found here: http://codes.ohio.gov/oac/4731-32-05.

The next condition petition window will be November 1 – December 31, 2021.

Agendas posted for February 2021 Committee and Board Meetings

February 9, 2021    378    378   

The State Medical Board of Ohio will livestream its committee meetings and Board Meeting on Wednesday, February 10.

These open meetings will be shared publicly via livestreams on the board's YouTube channel. The agendas can be viewed here.