§ 34-39-12.1 — Alabama Occupational Therapy Wellness Committee; Impaired Practitioner Program

Alabama § 34-39-12.1

• Jurisdiction: Alabama
• Title 34: Professions and Businesses
• Ch. 39: Occupational Therapy Practice Act
• Art. 1: General Provisions

Text

(a) The board shall promote the early identification, intervention, treatment, and rehabilitation of occupational therapists or occupational therapy assistants who may be impaired.
(b) To accomplish this obligation, the board may contract with any nonprofit corporation or medical professional association to create, support, and maintain an Alabama Occupational Therapy Wellness Committee. The committee shall be selected in a manner prescribed by the board. The board may expend available funds as necessary to adequately provide for the operational expenses of the committee including, but not limited to, the actual cost of travel, office overhead, and personnel expense. The expenditure of funds provided by the board for operating expenses of the committee are not subject to state competitive bid laws.
(c) The board may enter into an agreement with a nonprofit corporation or medical professional association for the committee to undertake those functions and responsibilities specified in the agreement, which may include any or all of the following:
(1) Contracting with providers of treatment programs.
(2) Receiving and evaluating reports of suspected impairment from any source.
(3) Intervening in cases of verified impairment.
(4) Referring impaired occupational therapists or occupational therapy assistants to treatment programs.
(5) Monitoring the treatment and rehabilitation of impaired occupational therapists or occupational therapy assistants.
(6) Providing post-treatment monitoring and support of rehabilitated impaired occupational therapists or occupational therapy assistants.
(7) Performing other activities as agreed by the board and the committee.
(d) The committee shall develop procedures in consultation with the board for all of the following:
(1) Periodic reporting of statistical information regarding impaired practitioner program activity.
(2) Periodic disclosure and joint review of all information the board deems appropriate regarding reports received, contracts or investigations made, and the disposition of each report. The committee may not disclose any personally identifiable information except as otherwise provided in this chapter.
(e) Any person appointed to serve as a member of the committee and any auxiliary personnel, consultant, attorney, or other volunteer or employee of the committee taking any action authorized by this chapter, engaging in the performance of any duties on behalf of the committee, or participating in any administrative or judicial proceeding resulting therefrom, in the performance and operation thereof, shall be immune from any liability, civil or criminal, that might otherwise be incurred or imposed. Any nonprofit corporation or medical professional association or other entity that contracts with or receives funds from the board for the creation, support, and operation of the committee, in so doing, shall be immune from any liability, civil or criminal, that might otherwise be incurred or imposed.
(f) All information, interviews, reports, statements, memoranda, or other documents furnished to or produced by the committee and any findings, conclusions, recommendations, or reports resulting from any investigation, intervention, treatment, or rehabilitation, or other proceeding of the committee is privileged and confidential. All records and proceedings of the committee pertaining to an impaired occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant are confidential and shall be used by the committee and the members of the committee only in the exercise of the proper function of the committee and shall not be public record nor available for court subpoena or for discovery proceedings. In the event of a breach of contract between the committee and the impaired occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant, all records pertaining to the conduct determined to cause the breach of contract shall be disclosed to the board upon its request for disciplinary purposes only. Nothing contained in this subsection shall apply to records made in the regular course of business of an occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant and any information, document, or record otherwise available from an original source may not be construed as immune from discovery or use in any civil proceeding merely because it is presented or considered during proceedings of the committee.
(g) The committee shall render an annual report to the board concerning the operations and proceedings of the committee for the preceding year. The committee shall report to the board any occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant who the committee determines is impaired, when it appears that the occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant is currently in need of intervention, treatment, or rehabilitation and the occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant has failed or refused to participate in any program of treatment or rehabilitation recommended by the committee. A report to the committee shall be deemed a report to the board for the purposes of any mandated reporting of occupational therapy licensee impairment or occupational therapy assistance licensee impairment otherwise provided for by law.
(h) If the board has reasonable cause to believe that an occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant is impaired, the board may cause an evaluation of the occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant to be conducted by the committee for the purpose of determining if there is an impairment. The committee shall report the findings of its evaluation to the board.

Legislative History

(Act 2021-516, §2.)