Licensure of primary spinal care practitioners, granting rule-making authority, and providing a criminal penalty. (FE)

Under the bill, and subject to certain exceptions, a person may practice spinal medicine in Wisconsin only if he or she is licensed by the affiliated credentialing board as a primary spinal care practitioner. The affiliated credentialing board may grant a license to practice spinal medicine to an applicant who, among other things, has practiced as a licensed chiropractor in good standing with the Chiropractic Examining Board for at least two years and has a degree of doctor of spinal medicine or equivalent degree from a program in chiropractic medicine approved by the affiliated credentialing board. A licensed primary spinal care practitioner must keep current his or her chiropractor license with the Chiropractic Examining Board.

The bill requires the affiliated credentialing board to establish continuing education requirements for licensed primary spinal care practitioners and authorizes up to 80 percent of those hours to count toward the continuing education requirements for a chiropractor license held with the Chiropractic Examining Board.

The bill requires at least 50 percent of those hours to include evidence-based pharmacology and medical procedures-based training. Under the bill, a licensed primary spinal care practitioner has authority to prescribe and administer prescription drugs.

The bill requires primary spinal care practitioners to maintain specific levels of malpractice liability insurance coverage and establishes various requirements with respect to fee splitting and billing for services. Those malpractice insurance, fee splitting, and billing requirements, as well as other requirements in the bill, are substantially similar to the requirements for podiatrists under current law.

The bill also treats primary spinal care practitioners similar to chiropractors in some respects. For example, the bill requires primary spinal care practitioners to refer a patient to a physician if the primary spinal care practitioner determines that the patient's condition is beyond the scope of the practice of spinal medicine. Also, the bill includes insurance coverage parity requirements that closely track the coverage requirements for treatment provided by chiropractors.

The bill requires the affiliated credentialing board and the Chiropractic Examining Board each to refer to the other board for investigation an allegation of a violation by a primary spinal care practitioner of the laws administered by that other board. If the alleged conduct involves a violation both of the laws applicable to primary spinal care practitioners and of the laws applicable to chiropractors, the bill requires the two boards to consult concerning the investigation of that alleged conduct. Otherwise, the affiliated credentialing board's authority to investigate misconduct and discipline licensed primary spinal care practitioners is typical of that for other similar boards, especially the Podiatry Affiliated Credentialing Board.