(1) The board shall establish an impaired physical therapy practitioners committee to promote the early identification, intervention, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical therapists and physical therapists’ assistants who may be impaired by reason of illness or of alcohol or drug abuse, or as a result of any physical or mental condition.
(2) The board may enter into a contractual agreement with a nonprofit corporation, physical therapy professional organization, or similar organization for the purpose of creating, supporting, and maintaining an impaired physical therapy practitioners committee.

Terms Used In Kentucky Statutes 327.045

  • Action: includes all proceedings in any court of this state. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
  • Board: means the Board of Physical Therapy established by KRS §. See Kentucky Statutes 327.010
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Physical therapist: means a professional person who has met the educational requirements of this chapter and who is licensed to practice physical therapy pursuant to this chapter. See Kentucky Statutes 327.010
  • Physical therapy: means the use of selected knowledge and skills in planning, organizing, and directing programs for the care of individuals whose ability to function is impaired or threatened by disease or injury, encompassing preventive measures, screening, tests in aid of diagnosis by a licensed doctor of medicine, osteopathy, dentistry, chiropractic, or podiatry and evaluation and invasive or noninvasive procedures with emphasis on the skeletal system, neuromuscular and cardiopulmonary function, as it relates to physical therapy. See Kentucky Statutes 327.010
  • Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
  • Treatment: when used in a criminal justice context, means targeted interventions
    that focus on criminal risk factors in order to reduce the likelihood of criminal behavior. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010

(3) The board may promulgate administrative regulations in accordance with KRS Chapter 13A to effectuate and implement a committee formed by the provisions of this section.
(4) Beginning January 1, 2001, the board shall collect an assessment fee not to exceed twenty dollars ($20) per licensee or certificate holder, payable to the board, to be added to each licensure and certification renewal application fee. Proceeds from the assessment shall be expended on the operation of an impaired physical therapy practitioners committee formed by the provisions of this section. The fee shall be set by the promulgation of administrative regulations.
(5) Members of an impaired physical therapy practitioners committee, any administrator, staff member, consultant, agent, volunteer, or employee of the committee acting within the scope of their duties and without actual malice, and all other persons who furnish information to the committee in good faith and without actual malice shall not be liable for any claim or damages as a result of any statement, decision, opinion, investigation, or action taken by the committee or by an individual member of the committee.
(6) All information, interviews, reports, statements, memoranda, or other documents furnished to or produced by the impaired physical therapy practitioners committee, all communication to or from the committee, and all proceedings, findings, and conclusions of the committee, including those relating to intervention, treatment, or rehabilitation, which in any way pertain or refer to a physical therapist or physical therapist’s assistant who is or may be impaired, shall be privileged and confidential.
(7) All records and proceedings of the committee that pertain or refer to a licensee or a certificate holder who may be, or actually is, impaired shall be privileged and confidential and shall be used by the committee and its members only in the exercise of the proper function of the committee and shall not be considered public records and shall not be subject to court subpoena and subject to discovery or introduction as evidence in any civil, criminal, or administrative proceedings except as described in subsection (8) of this section.
(8) The committee may disclose information relative to an impaired physical therapist or physical therapist’s assistant only when:
(a) It is essential to disclose the information to persons or organizations needing the information in order to address the intervention, treatment, or rehabilitation needs of the impaired practitioner;
(b) Its release is authorized in writing by the impaired physical therapist or physical therapist’s assistant; or
(c) The information is subject to court order.
(9) The impaired physical therapy practitioners committee shall make an annual report to the board.
Effective: July 14, 2000
History: Created 2000 Ky. Acts ch. 313, sec. 1, effective July 14, 2000.