July / August / September • Issue 3 • 2018
Legislative Update, continued from Page 5
after 10 visits or 15 business days, whichever occurs first. The
Physical Therapist must also refer the patient to their health
care professional of record if the patient returns for services
for the same or similar condition after 30 calendar days of
being discharged by the Physical Therapist or if the patient’s
condition is beyond the scope of practice of the Physical
Therapist. The Governor signed this bill on August 16 and it
became effective on that date.
HB 4953 (Rep. Mike McAuliffe/Sen. Melinda Bush)
requires every profession that requires continuing education
to include at least one hour of sexual harassment training,
beginning with license renewals on or after January 1, 2020.
The Department of Financial and Professional Regulation
may adopt rules to implement this legislation. The Governor
signed this bill on August 10 and it was effective on that
date.
HB 5070 (Rep. Patricia Bellock/Sen. Pamela Althoff)
amends the Telehealth Act to include occupational therapists
in the definition of “health care professional”. The Governor
signed this bill on July 27 and it is effective on January 1,
2019.
HB 5212 (Rep. Tom Demmer/Sen. Pamela Althoff), as
amendment by Senate amendment 1, creates the Regulatory
Sunrise Act. This bill creates a process to investigate and review
the necessity of new State regulation over an unregulated
profession. An applicant that proposes legislation to license
or regulate a new profession must complete a petition for
licensure developed by IDFPR and pay a $1,000 fee. Once
those items are received by the Department, they shall contract
for the preparation of an independent report assessing the
need for the proposed new licensure which must be completed
within 12 months. Once the report is delivered to the General
Assembly they may choose to pass legislation to regulate the
new profession. This bill was held in the Senate and could be
considered during the November veto session.
SB 3395 (Sen. Pamela Althoff/Rep. Tom Demmer)
amends the Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy Acts
to offer a more streamlined process for out of state licensees
to receive an Illinois license. The Governor signed this bill on
August 14 and it became effective with his signature.
Please remember that all of these bills can be found on the
General Assembly website: www.ilga.gov.
Submit Articles to the Communiqué
Each issue of the Communiqué seeks to highlight areas of
Occupational Therapy Practice. We appreciate our readers’
wide-ranging experiences. Each issue features a different
theme:
•
•
•
January/February/March:
Education, Research, Pediatrics
April/May/June:
Gerontology, Home Health, Low Vision
July/August/September:
Physical Disabilities, Hand Therapy, Driving Rehabilitation,
Assistive Technology
• October/November/December:
Mental Health, Work, Ergonomics
Do you have an article that does not fit the themes already
listed? Send it. We welcome articles from diverse and novel
perspectives.
Article Guidelines:
• Articles should contain title, introduction, body, summary,
and references when appropriate.
• Theme articles might include photos and/or graphics.
• Articles should be approximately 300-1000 words.
• Authors are requested to submit a professional biography,
maximum 35 words.
• Passport type photos are recommended for author photo.
• All work should be original work. If work submitted is
not original, one must have written permission from the
original author to place specific item in Communiqué
publication. Please use quotes when quoting others and
give credit to original authors.
• Please give credit to individuals who collaborated to
complete article (e.g., those helping with research,
providing background information, helping write article,
etc.).
• For the next issue, articles should be submitted by
November 15.
SUBMIT ARTICLES TO:
Marlene Vogt at [email protected]
The Communiqué editorial committee reserves the right to edit
any material submitted.
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