Title 5, Title 5 and Professions

The director has the following duties and powers: (1) With the prior approval of the governor, the director shall appoint a chief administrative officer who shall administer and supervise the investigatory and other activities of the board. The chief administrative officer shall …

(a) The director of the department of health, chief administrative officer, board members, and their agents and employees are immune from suit in any action, civil or criminal, based on any disciplinary proceeding or other official act performed in good faith in the course of the…

(a) Effective beginning in calendar year 2004, on or before the first day of March in each year, the board shall mail an application for biannual registration to every person to whom a license to practice medicine in this state has been granted by the licensing authority in the s…

A physician licensed to practice medicine who does not intend to engage in the practice of his or her profession during any year, upon written request to the board, may have his or her name transferred to an inactive list, and is not required to register annually or pay any regis…

Any person who is not lawfully authorized to practice medicine within this state, and registered according to law, who practices medicine or surgery or attempts to practice medicine or surgery, or any of the branches of medicine or surgery, after having received or with the inten…

No person licensed under this chapter, or members of the same professions licensed to practice in other states of the United States, who voluntarily and gratuitously and other than in the ordinary course of his or her employment or practice renders emergency medical assistance to…

This chapter and chapter 30 of this title shall not be construed to affect the practice of the religious tenets of any church; provided, that any sanitary laws of the state, or rules and regulations of any officer, board, division, or department, as now are or hereafter may be in…

(a) An applicant for limited registration under this chapter who furnishes the board with satisfactory proof that the applicant is eighteen (18) years of age or older and of good moral character; that the applicant has graduated from a fully legally chartered medical school or sc…

Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, a physician of noteworthy and recognized professional attainment who is a clearly outstanding physician and who has been offered by the dean of a medical school in this state a full-time academic appointment, shall be eligible…

(a) A physician who is licensed to practice medicine in another state or states, but not in this state, and who is in good standing in such state or states, may exercise the privilege to practice medicine for a patient located in this state under the following circumstances only:…

Persons between the ages of eighteen (18) and twenty-one (21) years may give legal consent for examination and treatment for illnesses resulting from administration of drugs, and any physical examination and treatment by a registered physician, hospital, or mental-health facility…

Every prescription slip issued by a physician shall contain the clearly-printed name and address of the issuing physician. In addition, every prescription written in this state shall have one line for the practitioner’s signature.

Every licensed Rhode Island physician, when prescribing any drug by brand name, shall in each prescription, oral, written, or electronic, authorize a less expensive generic-equivalent drug product by signing the prescription. If, in the professional judgment of the prescribing ph…

Any person, firm, or corporation, who or that violates any of the provisions of § 5-37-18 or § 5-37-18.1 shall be fined not more than one hundred dollars ($100) for each violation.

Any physician who signs a prescription in blank and delivers it to a patient or any other person except a duly licensed pharmacist shall be fined no more than five hundred dollars ($500).

(a)(1) Authority to practice allopathic or osteopathic medicine under this chapter shall be by a license issued by the director of the department of health to any reputable physician who intends to practice allopathic or osteopathic medicine in this state, and who meets the requi…

Effective beginning in calendar year 2004, every physician licensed to practice medicine within this state shall, in connection with biannual registration, on or before the first day of June in each even-numbered year, provide satisfactory evidence to the board of medical licensu…

Persons licensed and registered as physicians under this chapter shall be allowed to practice acupuncture only in accordance with the rules and regulations promulgated by the director.

No physician shall directly or indirectly receive payment, reimbursement, compensation, or fee for a referral to any clinical laboratory. A violation of the provisions of this section shall constitute a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof may be punished by imprisonment for n…

(a)(1) Any physician who is not a participant in a medical insurance plan shall post a notice, in a conspicuous place in his or her medical offices where it can be read by his or her patients, that reads, in substance, as follows: “To my patients: I do not participate in a medica…

(a) Any person sixty-five (65) years of age or older who is billed for healthcare services that have never been provided to that person may report the billing error to the office of healthy aging. The division shall investigate the report. (b) The healthcare provider shall repay …

Unless another penalty is provided by the laws of this state, any person who violates any provision of this chapter or any rule or regulation adopted under this chapter, shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonme…

When it appears to the director or board that any person is violating any of the provisions of this chapter, the director or board may institute an action to enjoin the violation in a court of competent jurisdiction, and the court may restrain and/or enjoin any person, firm, corp…

Physicians or other persons are prohibited from requiring patients or their representatives to sign blank forms provided by or for any third-party payers or nonprofit medical-service corporations prior to, during, or subsequent to rendering services. Any physician or other person…

If any provision of this chapter, or of any rule or regulation made under this chapter, or the application of this chapter to any person or circumstances is held invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, the remainder of the chapter, rule, or regulation, and the application o…

Any licensed healthcare facility, acting by and through its chief executive officer or his or her designee, may, upon the request of any other licensed healthcare facility, communicate to the chief executive officer of the requesting facility or his or her designee any or all inf…

(a) Whenever a hospital receives information from the board pursuant to § 5-37-9(3), or from another hospital pursuant to § 5-37-28, that indicates that the privileges of a physician or other healthcare professional have been suspended, revoked, or limited at another hospital, th…

Nothing in this chapter or chapter 30 of this title shall be construed to authorize any itinerant doctor to register or to practice medicine in any part of this state.

(a) A physician shall, at least ninety (90) days before closing his or her practice, give public notice as to the disposition of patients’ medical records in a newspaper with a statewide circulation, and shall notify the Rhode Island Medical Society and Rhode Island Board of Medi…

Any licensed physician interpreting a mammogram must meet state-approved quality assurance standards for interpreting mammograms. The director of the department of health has the authority to promulgate rules and regulations necessary to carry out the provisions of this section.

Any licensed physician taking a pap smear or supervising the taking of a pap smear shall submit the smear for processing only to a laboratory licensed by the Rhode Island department of health specifically to perform cervical cytology, or accredited by the American Society of Cyto…

(a) Any contract or agreement that creates or establishes the terms of a partnership, employment, or any other form of professional relationship with a physician licensed to practice medicine pursuant to this chapter that includes any restriction of the right of such physician to…

(a) The director at the direction of the board shall, after notice and hearing, in accordance with the procedures established in §§ 5-37-5.2 — 5-37-6.2, refuse to grant the original license provided for in this chapter to any physician and/or applicant: (1) Who is not of good mor…

The term “unprofessional conduct” as used in this chapter includes, but is not limited to, the following items or any combination of these items and may be further defined by regulations established by the board with the prior approval of the director: (1) Fraudulent or deceptive…

(a) Any person, firm, corporation, or public officer may submit a written complaint to the board charging the holder of a license to practice medicine or limited registrant with unprofessional conduct, specifying the grounds for the complaint. The board shall review all complaint…

When the investigating committee determines that action is required or the accused requests a hearing on allegations of unprofessional conduct, a specification of charges of unprofessional conduct against the licensee or limited registration holder shall be prepared by the invest…

The time of the hearing shall be fixed by the hearing committee of the board as soon as is practicable. The hearing committee of the board shall issue a notice of a hearing of the charges, which shall specify the time and place of the hearing and shall notify the accused that he …

Subpoenas may be issued by the board or the board’s constituted committees to compel the production of documents or other written records, or the attendance and testimony of witnesses, at any investigation or hearing. The board shall also issue subpoenas at the request and on beh…

After holding a hearing, the hearing committee of the board shall make a written report of its findings of fact, conclusions of law, and disciplinary order, if any.

If a majority of the members of the board, sitting as the hearing committee, vote in favor of finding the accused guilty of unprofessional conduct as specified in the charges, the board shall prepare written findings of fact and law in support of that conclusion. The board shall …

If the accused is found guilty of unprofessional conduct as described in § 5-37-6.2, the director, at the direction of the board, shall impose one or more of the following conditions: (1) Administer a reprimand; (2) Suspend or limit or restrict his or her license or limited regis…

(a) Any person whose license or limited registration to practice medicine has been revoked or suspended by the director or board, or is aggrieved by the decision of the board and/or director, has the right of judicial review of the decision of the board and director. This review …

The director may temporarily suspend the license of a physician or limited registrant without a hearing if the director finds that evidence in his or her possession indicates that a physician’s or limited registrant’s continuation in practice would constitute an immediate danger …

In addition to the requirements of § 42-14-2.1: (1) The board, with the approval of the director, may adopt regulations requiring any person, including, but not limited to, corporations, healthcare facilities, health-maintenance organizations, organizations, federal, state, or lo…

The board shall receive and maintain a confidential file, which will be available to the board to precipitate or aid in their investigations. The information shall also be available to licensed healthcare facilities including health-maintenance organizations in connection with th…

(a)(1) The board shall compile the information listed in this section to create individual profiles on licensed physicians, in a format created by the board, consistent with the provisions of this section and any regulations promulgated under this section, that are available for …