2420-2433
BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE
SECTION 2420-2433
2420. The provisions of this article apply to, determine the expiration of, and govern the renewal of, each of the following certificates, licenses, registrations, and permits issued by or under the Medical Board of California: physician's and surgeon's certificates, certificates to practice podiatric medicine, physical therapy licenses and approvals, registrations of research psychoanalysts, registrations of dispensing opticians, registrations of nonresident contact lens sellers, registrations of spectacle lens dispensers, registrations of contact lens dispensers, certificates to practice midwifery, and fictitious-name permits. 2421. As used in this article, the terms: (a) "License" includes "certificate," "permit," and "registration." (b) "Licensee" includes the holder of a license. (c) "Licensing authority" means the appropriate division or examining committee, under the board, which has jurisdiction over a particular licensee. 2422. All licenses expire and become invalid at 12 midnight on the last day of February of each even-numbered year if not renewed. To renew an unexpired license, a licensee shall, on or before the date it would otherwise expire, apply for renewal on a form prescribed by the licensing authority and pay the prescribed renewal fee. 2423. (a) Notwithstanding Section 2422: (1) All physician and surgeon's certificates, certificates to practice podiatric medicine, registrations of spectacle lens dispensers and contact lens dispensers, and certificates to practice midwifery shall expire at 12 midnight on the last day of the birth month of the licensee during the second year of a two-year term if not renewed. (2) Registrations of dispensing opticians will expire at midnight on the last day of the month in which the license was issued during the second year of a two-year term if not renewed. (b) The Division of Licensing shall establish by regulation procedures for the administration of a birth date renewal program, including, but not limited to, the establishment of a system of staggered license expiration dates such that a relatively equal number of licenses expire monthly. (c) To renew an unexpired license, the licensee shall, on or before the dates on which it would otherwise expire, apply for renewal on a form prescribed by the licensing authority and pay the prescribed renewal fee. 2424. (a) The Division of Licensing or the California Board of Podiatric Medicine, as the case may be, shall notify in writing by certified mail, return receipt requested, any physician and surgeon or any podiatrist who does not renew his or her license within 60 days from its date of expiration. (b) Notwithstanding Section 163.5, any such licensee who does not renew his or her expired license within 90 days of its date of expiration shall pay all the following fees: (1) The renewal fee in effect at the time of renewal. (2) A penalty fee equal to 50 percent of the renewal fee. (3) The delinquency fee required by Section 2435 or 2499.5, as the case may be. (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the renewal of any expired physician's and surgeon's or podiatrist's license within six months from its date of expiration shall be retroactive to the date of expiration of that license. The division or board, for good cause, may waive the 50 percent penalty fee and may extend retroactivity up to two years from the expiration date of any such license. 2425. (a) The Division of Licensing may prepare and mail to every licensed physician at the time of license renewal a questionnaire containing any questions as are necessary to establish that the physician currently has no mental, physical, emotional, or behavioral disorder that would impair the physician's ability to practice medicine safely. (b) Each licensed physician shall complete, sign, and return the questionnaire to the Division of Licensing as a condition of renewing his or her license. 2425.1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) Currently, California is experiencing an access to health care crisis that, in large measure, is the result of medical group insolvency, health facility closures, low or no reimbursement rates, and an increasing number of uninsured. (b) Adding to the access to health care crisis is a state population that is growing in cultural and linguistic diversity as well as in absolute numbers. (c) On paper, California appears to have an adequate number of physicians in most areas of the state. California, however, does not have data indicating the cultural and linguistic background of licensed physicians, how many physicians are actively practicing medicine, how many physicians are practicing part time, how many physicians have retired from practice, or how many physicians have moved into administrative positions and no longer treat patients. (d) In order to fully understand and cope with California's access to health care crisis, it is necessary to collect data concerning the status and scope of practice of California's licensed physicians as well as his or her cultural and linguistic background. 2425.3. (a) A licensed physician and surgeon shall report to the board, immediately upon issuance of an initial license and at the time of license renewal, any specialty board certification he or she holds that is issued by a member board of the American Board of Medical Specialties or approved by the Medical Board of California. (b) A licensed physician and surgeon shall also report to the board, immediately upon issuance of an initial license and at the time of license renewal, his or her practice status, designated as one of the following: (1) Full-time practice in California. (2) Full-time practice outside of California. (3) Part-time practice in California. (4) Medical administrative employment that does not include direct patient care. (5) Retired. (6) Other practice status, as may be further defined by the board. (c) (1) A licensed physician and surgeon shall report to the board, immediately upon issuance of an initial license and at the time of license renewal, and the board shall collect, information regarding his or her cultural background and foreign language proficiency. The board shall provide an option for a licensed physician and surgeon to decline to state in the report his or her cultural background and foreign language proficiency. (2) Information collected pursuant to this subdivision shall be aggregated on an annual basis based on categories utilized by the board in the collection of the data, and shall be aggregated into both statewide totals and ZIP code of primary practice location totals. (3) Aggregated information under this subdivision shall be compiled annually and reported on the board's Internet Web site on or before October 1 of each year. (d) The information collected pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b) may also be placed on the board's Internet Web site. 2426. (a) A licensee shall report to the board at the time of renewal of a license any financial interest that the licensee or a member of the licensee's immediate family may have in a health-related facility. The report shall be made on a form provided by the board. (b) For purposes of this section, all of the following shall apply: (1) A "financial interest" includes, but is not limited to, any type of ownership interest, debt, loan, lease, compensation, remuneration, discount, rebate, refund, dividend, distribution, subsidy, or other form of direct or indirect payment, whether in money or otherwise, to a licensee or the licensee's immediate family from a health-related facility. (2) A "financial interest" also exists if there is an indirect relationship between a licensee and the health-related facility including, but not limited to, an arrangement whereby a licensee has an ownership interest in an entity that leases property to the health-related facility. Any financial interest transferred by a licensee to, or otherwise established in, any person or entity for the purpose of avoiding the reporting required by this section shall be deemed a financial interest of the licensee. (3) A "financial interest" does not include a licensee's ownership of corporate investment securities, including shares, bonds, or other debt instruments that are purchased from a licensed securities broker on terms that are available to the general public through a licensed securities exchange or NASDAQ, do not base profit distributions or other transfers of value on the licensee's referral of persons to the corporation, do not have a separate class or accounting for any persons or for any licensees who may refer persons to the corporation, and are in a corporation that had, at the end of the corporation's most recent fiscal year, total gross assets exceeding one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000). (4) "Immediate family" includes a spouse, child, or parent of a licensee, and a spouse of a child of a licensee. (5) "Licensee" means a physician and surgeon licensed pursuant to this chapter. (6) A "health-related facility" shall include a facility for clinical laboratory services, radiation oncology, physical therapy, physical rehabilitation, psychometric testing, home infusion therapy, diagnostic imaging, and outpatient surgery centers. "Diagnostic imaging" shall include, but is not limited to, all X-ray, computed axial tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, nuclear medicine, positron emission tomography, mammography, and ultrasound goods and services. (c) The information reported to the board shall be available to government agencies and public or private payers. (d) The board may impose appropriate sanctions, including the issuance of a citation and civil penalty under Section 125.9, against any licensee who fails to comply with this section. (e) This section shall become operative on July 1, 1994. 2427. (a) Except as provided in Section 2429, a license which has expired may be renewed at any time within five years after its expiration on filing an application for renewal on a form prescribed by the licensing authority and payment of all accrued renewal fees and any other fees required by Section 2424. If the license is not renewed within 30 days after its expiration, the licensee, as a condition precedent to renewal, shall also pay the prescribed delinquency fee, if any. Except as provided in Section 2424, renewal under this section shall be effective on the date on which the renewal application is filed, on the date on which the renewal fee or accrued renewal fees are paid, or on the date on which the delinquency fee or the delinquency fee and penalty fee, if any, are paid, whichever last occurs. If so renewed, the license shall continue in effect through the expiration date set forth in Section 2422 or 2423 which next occurs after the effective date of the renewal, when it shall expire and become invalid if it is not again renewed. (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the license of a doctor of podiatric medicine which has expired may be renewed at any time within three years after its expiration on filing an application for renewal on a form prescribed by the licensing authority and payment of all accrued renewal fees and any other fees required by Section 2424. If the license is not renewed within 30 days after its expiration, the licensee, as a condition precedent to renewal, shall also pay the prescribed delinquency fee, if any. Except as provided in Section 2424, renewal under this section shall be effective on the date on which the renewal application is filed, on the date on which the renewal fee or accrued renewal fees are paid, or on the date on which the delinquency fee or the delinquency fee and penalty fee, if any, are paid, whichever last occurs. If so renewed, the license shall continue in effect through the expiration date set forth in Section 2422 or 2423 which next occurs after the effective date of the renewal, when it shall expire and become invalid if it is not again renewed. 2428. (a) A person who fails to renew his or her license within five years after its expiration may not renew it, and it may not be reissued, reinstated, or restored thereafter, but that person may apply for and obtain a new license if he or she: (1) Has not committed any acts or crimes constituting grounds for denial of licensure under Division 1.5 (commencing with Section 475). (2) Takes and passes the examination, if any, which would be required of him or her if application for licensure was being made for the first time, or otherwise establishes to the satisfaction of the licensing authority that passes on the qualifications of applicants for the license that, with due regard for the public interest, he or she is qualified to practice the profession or activity for which the applicant was originally licensed. (3) Pays all of the fees that would be required if application for licensure was being made for the first time. The licensing authority may provide for the waiver or refund of all or any part of an examination fee in those cases in which a license is issued without an examination pursuant to this section. Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize the issuance of a license for a professional activity or system or mode of healing for which licenses are no longer required. (b) In addition to the requirements set forth in subdivision (a), an applicant shall establish that he or she meets one of the following requirements: (1) satisfactory completion of at least two years of approved postgraduate training; (2) certification by a specialty board approved by the American Board of Medical Specialties or approved by the Division of Licensing pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 651; or (3) passing of the clinical competency written examination. (c) Subdivision (a) shall apply to persons who held licenses to practice podiatric medicine except that those persons who failed to renew their licenses within three years after its expiration may not renew it, and it may not be reissued, reinstated, or restored, except in accordance with subdivision (a). 2429. (a) A license which is suspended for unprofessional conduct is subject to expiration and shall be renewed as provided in this article, but such renewal does not entitle the licensee, while the license remains suspended, and until it is reinstated, to engage in the licensed activity, or in any other activity or conduct in violation of the order or judgment by which the license was suspended. (b) A license which is revoked for unprofessional conduct is subject to expiration as provided in this article, but it shall not be renewed. If it is reinstated by the licensing authority after its expiration, the licensee, as a condition precedent to reinstatement or restoration of licensure, shall pay a reinstatement fee which is an amount equal to the current renewal fee, plus the delinquency fee, if any. 2432. Upon filing an application therefor, containing such information as the licensing authority may require and accompanied by the required duplicate certificate fee, if any, a duplicate certificate may be issued to any person so licensed under the applicable provisions of law where the same certificate applied for has been previously issued or, where there has been a change in name, another certificate in lieu of one previously issued. 2433. Upon filing an application therefor, containing such information as the licensing authority may require and accompanied by the required endorsement fee, if any, the licensure or credentials of the person so licensed may be endorsed or certified.