‘‘Expedited physician licensee’’ and ‘‘health care professional’’ defined; fingerprinting and criminal background check

(a) As used in this Code section, the term: (1) ‘‘Expedited physician licensee’’ means an individual licensed by the board. (2) ‘‘Health care professional’’ means any individual licensed, certified, or permitted by the board under this chapter. (b) Any applicant as a health care professional or as an expedited physician licensee shall have satisfactory results from a fingerprint records check report conducted by the Georgia Crime Information Center and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as determined by the board. Application for a license, certificate, or permit under this chapter shall constitute express consent and authorization for the board to perform a criminal background check. Each applicant who submits an application to the board for licensure, certification, or permit agrees to provide the board with any and all information necessary to run a criminal background check, including, but not limited to, classifiable sets of fingerprints. The applicant shall be responsible for all fees associated with the performance of such criminal background check. History. — Code 1981, § 43-34-13, enacted by Ga. L. 2019, p. 200, § 2/SB 16; Ga. L. 2020, p. 575, § 4/HB 752; Ga. L. 2021, p. 363, § 1/HB 245. Effective date. — This Code section became effective July 1, 2019. The 2020 amendment, effective January 1, 2021, in subsection (a), added the colon at the end of the introductory lan- guage, added paragraph (a)(1) and designated the existing provisions as paragraph (a)(2); and inserted ‘‘or as an expedited physician licensee’’ in the first sentence of subsection (b). The 2021 amendment, effective May 4, 2021, deleted ‘‘or its representative’’ following ‘‘authorization for the board’’ in the second sentence of subsection (b).