CALIFORNIA - ADVERTISING

1. What is California’s general rule regarding advertising by physicians?

A licensed physician may advertise the provision of any medical services authorized to be provided by such license so long as such advertising does not promote the excessive or unnecessary use of such services.

16 CA ADC § 1363

2. What are the specific regulations with respect to specialists?

(a) As used in this section:

(1) "Specialty Board" means a board or association which certifies physicians in a specialty or subspecialty area of medicine.

(2) "Specialty or Subspecialty Area of Medicine" means a distinct and well-defined field of medical practice. It includes special concern with diagnostic and therapeutic modalities of patients' health problems, or it may concern health problems according to age, sex, organ system, body region, or the interaction between patients and their environment. A medical specialty promotes the standards of practice within its specialty association.

(b) If a physician advertises that he or she is certified by a specialty board or association in a specialty or subspecialty area of medicine and that specialty board or association is not a member board of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) or does not have a postgraduate training program approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) or the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC), then the specialty board or association shall be approved by the Division of Licensing and shall comply with all of the following requirements:

(1) The primary purpose of the specialty board shall be certification in a medical specialty or subspecialty. The specialty board shall encompass the broad areas of the specialty or subspecialty.

(2) The specialty board shall not restrict itself to a single modality or treatment which may be part of a broader specialty or subspecialty.

(3) If the specialty board certifies professionals other than physicians, the specialty board shall not represent either that (i) the criteria set forth in these regulations or (ii) the medical board's approval of the specialty board's certification program is applicable to nonphysicians.

(4) The specialty board shall be a nonprofit corporation or association, and it shall have at least a total of 100 members located in at least one-third of the states who shall possess a clear and unrestricted license to practice medicine.

(5) The specialty board shall have articles of incorporation, a constitution, or a charter and bylaws which describe its operation. The bylaws shall:

(A) provide for an independent and stable governing body with staggered, limited terms of not more than six years that is internally-appointed or selected by the members.

(B) set forth the requirements and policies for certification by the specialty board.

(C) require that the specialty board promote the public interest by contributing to improvement of medicine by establishing requirements and evaluating applicants who apply.

(D) require that the specialty board determine whether applicants have received adequate preparation in accord with standards established by the specialty board.

(E) require evidence that applicants have acquired capability in a specialty or subspecialty area of medicine and will demonstrate special knowledge in that field.

(F) require that the specialty board conduct comprehensive evaluations of the knowledge and experience of applicants.

(6) The specialty board shall have standards for determining that those who are certified possess the knowledge and skills essential to provide competent care in the designated specialty or subspecialty area.

(7) More than 80 percent of the specialty board's revenue for continuing operations shall be from certification and examination fees, membership fees and interest and investment income.

(8)

(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B) or (C) of this paragraph (8), the specialty board shall require all applicants who are seeking certification to have satisfactorily completed a postgraduate training program accredited by the ACGME or the RCPSC that includes identifiable training in the specialty or subspecialty area of medicine in which the physician is seeking certification. This identifiable training shall be deemed acceptable unless determined by the Division of Licensing to be either (1) inadequate in scope, content and duration in that specialty or subspecialty area of medicine in order to protect the public health and safety or (2) not equivalent in scope and content to the residency training required for board certification by any related ABMS board for the specific conditions, disease processes and surgical procedures within the scope of the applicant certifying board's examination and certification.

(B) If the training required of applicants seeking certification by the specialty board is other than ACGME or RCPSC accredited postgraduate training, then the specialty board shall have training standards that include identifiable training in the specialty or subspecialty area of medicine in which the physician is seeking certification and that have been determined by the Division of Licensing to be equivalent in scope, content and duration to those of an ACGME or RCPSC accredited program in a related specialty or subspecialty area of medicine. This training shall be evaluated by the Division of Licensing to ensure that its scope, content and duration are equivalent to those of an ACGME or RCPSC accredited program and are adequate for training in that specialty or subspecialty area of medicine in order to protect the public health and safety.

(C) In lieu of the postgraduate training required under subparagraph (A) or (B) of this paragraph (8), the specialty board shall require applicants seeking certification to have completed (1) a minimum of six years of full time teaching and/or practice in the specialty or subspecialty area of medicine in which the physician is seeking certification and (2) a minimum of 300 hours of continuing medical education in the specialty or subspecialty area of medicine in which the physician is seeking certification which is approved under Section 1337 and 1337.5 of these regulations. Any teaching experience acceptable under this subparagraph shall have been in a postgraduate training program accredited by the ACGME or RCPSC or that meets the standards set forth in subparagraph (B) that includes identifiable training in the specialty or subspecialty area of medicine to be certified. This training shall be evaluated by the Division of Licensing and determined to be equivalent in scope, content, and duration to those of an ACGME or RCPSC accredited program in a related specialty or subspecialty area of medicine and to be adequate for training in that specialty or subspecialty area of medicine in order to protect the public health and safety. Teaching or practice experience accepted under this subparagraph shall be evaluated by and acceptable to the credentials committee of the specialty board pursuant to standards that are (1) specified in the bylaws of the specialty board and (2) approved by the Division of Licensing in accordance with criteria set forth in these regulations.

Physicians applying for certification who qualify under this subparagraph shall be required by the specialty board to have satisfactorily completed an ACGME or RCPSC accredited residency training program. This residency shall have provided training in the conditions and disease processes that are included in the new specialty.

Physicians who are certified by specialty boards under this subparagraph which are incorporated, or organized as an association on the effective date of these regulations, may advertise their board certification for three years from the effective date of these regulations. During that time, the specialty board shall demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Division of Licensing that there is in existence one or more postgraduate training programs that include identifiable training in the specialty or subspecialty area of medicine to be certified that meet the requirements of subparagraph (A) or (B) of this paragraph (8); then the specialty board's approval shall be permanent unless withdrawn under subsection (c). This training shall be evaluated by the Division of Licensing and determined to be equivalent in scope, content, and duration to those of an ACGME or RCPSC accredited program in a related specialty or subspecialty area of medicine and to be adequate for training in that specialty or subspecialty area of medicine in order to protect the public health and safety. If a specialty board cannot demonstrate its equivalency to ABMS boards in the three years following the effective date of these regulations, its members may not thereafter advertise certification by that board. This period may be extended for a year if the Division of Licensing determines that the specialty board is making a good faith effort towards achieving equivalency to ABMS boards.

Physicians who are certified by specialty boards under this subparagraph which are incorporated, or organized as an association after the effective date of these regulations, may not advertise their certification until the specialty board is determined by the Division of Licensing to be equivalent to ABMS boards. The specialty board shall demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Division of Licensing that there is in existence one or more postgraduate training programs that include identifiable training in the specialty or subspecialty area of medicine to be certified that meet the requirements of subparagraph (A) or (B) of this paragraph (8). This training shall be evaluated by the Division of Licensing and determined to be equivalent in scope, content, and duration to those of an ACGME or RCPSC accredited program in a related specialty or subspecialty area of medicine and to be adequate for training in that specialty or subspecialty area of medicine in order to protect the public health and safety.

(9) Except as provided in subparagraph (8)(C) above, at the time of application for approval to the Division of Licensing, a specialty board shall demonstrate that one or more postgraduate training programs are in existence and that these programs provide identifiable training in the specialty or subspecialty area of medicine in which physicians are seeking certification. This training shall be evaluated by the Division of Licensing and determined to be equivalent in scope, content and duration to those of an ACGME or RCPSC accredited program in a related specialty or subspecialty area of medicine and to be adequate for training in that specialty or subspecialty area of medicine in order to protect the public health and safety.

The specialty board shall submit a plan that (A) estimates the number of physicians to be certified through subsection (b)(8)(C), above; (B) specifies the number and location of post graduate training programs developed and to be developed; the number of trainees completing the training annually; (C) demonstrates the equivalency of those programs, as provided for in subsection (b)(8)(B), above; (D) provides for monitoring to evaluate the quality of existing programs; and (E) allows for upgrading of the parameters of the specialty or subspecialty area of medicine to accommodate new developments.

Every year the specialty board shall report to the Division of Licensing its progress in implementing the plan for postgraduate training programs in the specialty or subspecialty area of medicine in which physicians are seeking certification. Failure to so report shall be grounds for withdrawal of approval by the division. Failure of a specialty board to establish to the satisfaction of the division that it is in compliance with its plan, as stated in its original submission to the division, shall be grounds for withdrawal of the division's approval of the specialty board. Failure of a specialty board to provide evidence that the postgraduate training programs are equivalent in scope, content and duration to those of ACGME or RCPSC accredited programs shall be grounds for withdrawal of the approval.

(10) The specialty board shall require all physicians who are seeking certification to successfully pass a written or an oral examination or both which tests the applicants' knowledge and skills in the specialty or subspecialty area of medicine. All or part of the examinations may be delegated to a testing organization. All examinations shall be subject to a psychometric evaluation. The examinations shall be a minimum of sixteen (16) hours in length. Those specialty boards which require as a prerequisite for certification, prior passage of an ABMS examination in a related specialty or subspecialty area, may grant up to eight hours credit for the ABMS qualifying board examination toward the sixteen (16) hour testing requirement.

(11) The specialty board shall issue certificates to those physicians who are found qualified under the stated requirements of the specialty board.

(12) The specialty board shall assist in maintaining and elevating the standards of graduate medical education and facilities for specialty training in medicine in collaboration with other concerned organizations and agencies, and have a mechanism for assisting accrediting agencies in the evaluation of training programs.

(c)

(1) Upon request the Division of Licensing will approve a specialty board if it meets the criteria set forth in these regulations. The division may withdraw the approval of a specialty board if the division finds that it fails to meet the criteria set forth in these regulations.

(2) Within 30 working days of receipt of an application for specialty board approval, the division shall inform the applicant in writing that it is either complete and accepted for filing and referral to a medical consultant selected by the division or that it is deficient and what specific information or documentation is required to complete the application.

(3) Within 918 calendar days from the date of filing of a completed application, the division shall inform the applicant in writing of its decision regarding the applicant's approval as a specialty board.

(4) The division's time periods for processing an application from the receipt of the initial application to the final decision regarding approval or disapproval based on the division's actual performance during the two years preceding the proposal of this section were as follows:

(A) Minimum - 646 days.

(B) Median - 714 days.

(C) Maximum - 918 days.

(d) Specialty boards approved by the Division of Licensing shall certify every three years from the date of approval that they continue to meet the requirements of these regulations.

(e) The Division of Licensing shall conduct such evaluations as it deems appropriate to ensure that applicant boards applying to the division meet the criteria of these regulations.

16 CA ADC § 1363.5

Copyright © Kern Augustine Conroy and Schoppmann, P.C. Used with permission.

Updated 2008