SECTION 130.73. Conditions of Suspension of License

(a) Suspension of a license means that the office of the practitioner is to be closed for the purposes of receiving, diagnosing, treating, or consulting with patients, and the licensee may not participate for income in any professional activity that is directly related to diagnosis or treatment of a patient or activities that involve consultation services related to management of a practice. The practitioner may refer patients to another practitioner for treatment or consultation during the period of the suspension, but the practitioner shall not derive any income from such referrals. The practitioner may allow another practitioner to see the practitioner's patients during the period of the suspension the practitioner's office or other practitioner's office, but the practitioner shall derive no income from the other practitioner by way of referral fees, or the like.

(b) The practitioner's office may remain open for the purposes of administrative work, including making future appointments, arranging referrals, handling mail, processing accounts, billing, and insurance matters, and other similar matters not directly related to the diagnosis and treatment of patients.

(c) If the suspended practitioner shares offices with another practitioner, the other practitioner shall be allowed to continue to practice, but the suspended practitioner shall not share income with the other practitioner, including any income derived in any way from the diagnosis or treatment of patients. The department may, through unannounced visits or by requesting documentation, check on the business arrangement that the suspended practitioner has with the other practitioner(s) regarding the renting of equipment, rental of business facilities, referral fees or any other negotiated arrangement so as to be sure that the suspended practitioner is not deriving any monies from the practice of podiatric medicine.

(d) If a license suspension is probated, the commission or executive director may require the licensee to:

(1) report regularly to the department on matters that are the basis of the probation;

(2) limit practice to the areas prescribed by the commission or executive director; or

(3) continue or review continuing professional education until the licensee attains a degree of skill satisfactory to the department in those areas that are the basis of the probation.

Source Note: The provisions of this §130.73 adopted to be effective November 1, 2018, 43 TexReg 6953