Board of occupational therapy amendments.

2015
STATE OF WYOMING
15LSO-0520
Numbered
2.1

HOUSE BILL

NO.
HB0188

Board of occupational therapy amendments.

Sponsored by:
Representative(s) Krone

A BILL

for

AN ACT relating to the Occupational Therapy Practice Act; amending definitions; adding definitions; amending licensing requirements; requiring national certification for licensure; providing for re-entry of previously licensed persons; amending the experience requirement for board membership; amending board meeting requirements; and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1
.

W.S. 33
‑
40
‑
102(a)(ii
),
by creating new paragraph
s
(v)
and (vi)
and
by
renumber
ing
(v) as (vi
i
),
33
‑
40
‑
103(a), 33
‑
40
‑
105(a) by creating a new paragraph (iv), 33
‑
40
‑
106(a)
(intro),
(iii) and
(iv)
, 33
‑
40
‑
107(b), 33
‑
40
‑
110(a)
and
by creating a new subsection (f)
,
33
‑
40
‑
111
and

33
‑
40
‑
114(a) and (c)
(intro)
are amended to read:

33
‑
40
‑
102
.

Definitions.

(a)

As used in this act:

(ii)

"
Certified
O
ccupational therapy assistant" means a person licensed to assist in the practice of occupational therapy, under this act, and who works under the supervision of a registered occupational therapist

and has not maintained national certification
;

(v
)

"Occupational therapy" is the
therapeutic
use of
everyday life activities, or occupations,
with individuals

or groups for the purpose of participation in roles and situations in home, school, workplace, community and other settings. Occupational therapy services are provided for the purpose of promoting health and wellness and to those who have or
are at risk for developing an illness, injury, disease, disorder, condition, impairment, disability, activity limitation or participation restriction. Occupational therapy addresses the physical,
cognitive, psychosocial, sensory and other
aspects
of performance in a variety of contexts to support engagement in everyday life activities that affect health, wellbeing and quality of life. This may be accomplished through fac
e
‑
to
‑
face interaction or appropriate use of occupational therapy telehealth services.

The practice of
occupational therapy
includes
:

(A)

Methods or strategies selected to direct the process of interventions such as:

(I)

Establishment, remediation or restoration of a skill or ability that has not yet developed or is impaired;

(II)

Compensation, modification or adaptation of activity or environment to enhance
performance;

(III)

Maintenance and enhancement of capabilities without which performance in everyday life activities would decline
;

(IV)

Health and wellness
promotion
to enable or
enhance performance in everyday life activities.

(B)

Evaluation of factors affecting activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, education, work, play, leisure and social participation, including:

(I)

Client factors, including body functions such as neuromuscular, sensory, visual, perceptual and cognitive, and body structures such as cardiovascular, digestive, integumentary and genitourinary systems;

(II)

Habits, routines, roles and behavior patterns;

(III)

Cultural,

physical,

environmental, social and spiritual contexts and activity demands that affect performance;

(IV)

Performance skills, including motor, process, communication and interaction skills.

(C)

Interventions and procedures to promote or enhance safety and performance in activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, education, work, play, leisure and social participation, including:

(I)

Therapeutic use of occupations, exercises and activities;

(II)

Training in self
‑
care, self
‑
management, home management and community
or
work reintegration;

(III)

Development, remediation or compensation of physical, cognitive, neuromuscular, sensory functions and behavioral skills;

(IV)

Therapeutic use of self, including one's personality, insights, perceptions and judgments, as part of the therapeutic process;

(V)

Education and training of individuals, including family members, caregivers and others;

(VI)

Care coordination, case management and transition services;

(VII)

Consultative services to groups, programs, organizations or communities;

(VIII)

Modification of home, work, school or community environments and adaptation of processes, including the application of ergonomic principles;

(IX)

Assessment, design, fabrication, application, fitting and training in assistive technology, adaptive devices and orthotic devices and training in the use of prosthetic devices;

(X)

Assessment, recommendation and training in techniques to enhance functional mobility, including wheelchair management;

(XI)

Driver rehabilitation and community mobility;

(XII)

Management of feeding, eating and swallowing to enable eating and feeding performance;

(XIII)

Application of physical agent modalities and use of a range of specific therapeutic procedures, such as wound care management, techniques to enhance sensory, perceptual and cognitive processing and manual therapy techniques, to enhance performance skills.

(v
i
)

"Occupational therapy
telehealth
" means the provision of occupational therapy services across a distance, using telecommunications
technology
for evaluation, intervention or consultation without requiring the therapist and recipient to be physically located in the same place;

(v)
(v
i
i)

"This act" means W.S. 33
‑
40
‑
101 through 33
‑
40
‑
117.

33
‑
40
‑
103
.

License required.

(a)

Effective on July 1, 1992,
N
o person shall
practice occupational therapy
for compensation
or

hold himself out as an occupational therapist, registered occupational therapist, occupational therapy assistant or certified occupational therapy assistant or as being able to practice occupational therapy in Wyoming unless he is licensed under this act.

33
‑
40
‑
105
.

Limited permit.

(a)

A limited permit may be granted to allow a person to practice occupational therapy under the general supervision of a registered occupational therapist. This permit shall expire six (6) months after issuance when the person is issued a license under W.S. 33
‑
40
‑
109. The limited permit may be renewed once. The limited permit:

(iv)

May
be granted to allow a person to work under supervision while waiting to take or awaiting results of a national certification examination.

33
‑
40
‑
106
.

Requirements for licensure; continuing education.

(a)

An applicant applying for a license as
a

registered

an

occupational therapist or as
a certified

an
occupational therapy assistant shall file a specified written application showing to the satisfaction of the board that the applicant:

(iii)

Has successfully completed supervised fieldwork experience arranged by the recognized educational institution where the applicant met the academic requirements or by the nationally recognized professional association. For a registered occupational therapist, a minimum of twenty
‑
four (24) weeks of supervised fieldwork experience is required. For a certified occupational therapy assistant, a minimum of eight (8) weeks of supervised fieldwork experience is required;
and

(iv)

Has

passed an
obtained national certification by successful completion of the

national certification
examination
as provided in W.S. 33
‑
40
‑
107

from the certification agency recognized by the board
.

33
‑
40
‑
107
.

Examination for license of registered occupational therapists and certified occupational therapy assistants.

(b)

Each applicant for licensure shall be given
and required to pass

a written examination on the basic and clinical sciences relating to occupational therapy, occupational therapy techniques and methods to determine the applicant's fitness to practice. The board shall designate the examination for registered occupational therapists and the examination for certified occupational therapy assistants and shall establish standards for acceptable performance.

33
‑
40
‑
110
.

Renewal of license
; re
‑
entry.

(a)

Any license issued under this act shall be subject to annual renewal as provided by the
board,
however no late renewal of a license may be granted more than
five (5) years
one (1) year

after its expiration.

(f)

The board shall establish re
‑
entry provisions for licensure for persons who have previously practiced in the field for at least one (1) year but have not engaged in the practice of occupational therapy for three (3) or more years prior to applying for a license.

33
‑
40
‑
111
.

Foreign trained applicants.

Occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants trained outside of the United States and its
possessions

territories
shall satisfy the examination requirements
and standards
of W.S.
33
‑
40
‑
106(
a)(iv)
33
‑
40
‑
106(a)
.
The board shall require these applicants to meet the standards established in W.S. 33
‑
40
‑
106(
a)(
i
) through (iii).

33
‑
40
‑
114
.

Board of occupational therapy practice; established; compensation.

(a)

There is established a board of occupational therapy within the department of administration and information. The board shall consist of five (5) members appointed by the governor, who are residents of Wyoming. Three (3) board members shall be registered occupational
therapists who have been engaged in providing occupational therapy services to the public, teaching or research in occupational therapy for at least five (5) years immediately preceding their appointments. One (1) board member shall be a certified occupational therapy assistant who shall have been engaged in providing occupational therapy services to the public, teaching or research in occupational therapy for at least
three (3)

five (5)
years immediately preceding his appointment. A registered occupational therapist may be appointed to this position if no certified occupational therapy assistant is available and willing to serve. These four (4) members shall at all times be holders of valid licenses under this act. The remaining member shall be a member of the public with an interest in the rights of the consumers of health services.

(c)

The board shall meet
during the first month of each fiscal year

annually
to select a chairman and for other purposes. At least one (1) additional meeting shall be held before the end of each fiscal year. Other meetings may be convened at the call of the chairman or the written request of any two (2) board members. A majority of the members of the board shall constitute a quorum for all
purposes. All meetings of the board shall be governed in accordance with W.S. 16
‑
4
‑
403. In addition the board may hold closed sessions:

Section 2
.

W.S. 33
‑
40
‑
102(
a)(iii) is repealed.

Section
3
.

This
act is effective July 1,
2015
.

(END)

1
HB0188