(1) If the director has reasonable cause to believe that a certificate holder is unable to practice with reasonable skill and safety, the director may order the certificate holder to take a mental or physical examination administered by a physician or other licensed health care professional designated by the director. Except where due to circumstances beyond the certificate holder's control, if the certificate holder fails or refuses to undergo a mental or physical examination, the director may suspend the certificate holder's certification until the director has made a determination of the certificate holder's fitness to practice. The director shall proceed with an order for examination and shall make the determination in a timely manner.
The director shall include in an order requiring a certificate holder to undergo amental or physical examination the basis of the director's reasonable cause to believe that the certificate holder is unable to practice with reasonable skill and safety. For purposes of a disciplinary proceeding authorized under this article 305, the certificate holder is deemed to have waived all objections to the admissibility of the examining physician's or licensed health care professional's testimony or examination reports on the grounds that they are privileged communication.
The certificate holder may submit to the director testimony or examination reportsfrom a physician chosen by the certificate holder and pertaining to any condition that the director has alleged may preclude the certificate holder from practicing with reasonable skill and safety. The director may consider the testimony and reports submitted by the certificate holder in conjunction with, but not in lieu of, the testimony and examination reports of the physician designated by the director.
The results of a mental or physical examination ordered by the director shall not beused as evidence in any proceeding other than one before the director, are not a public record, and are not available to the public.
Source: L. 2019: Entire title R&RE with relocations, (HB 19-1172), ch. 136, p. 1605, § 1, effective October 1.
Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 12-43.7-114 as it existed prior to 2019.