(a) The Medical Practice Act shall provide for the restriction, suspension, revocation or denial of the medical license of any physician who is determined by the Board to be dyscompetent or incompetent.
(b) The Board may develop and implement methods to identify dyscompetent physicians and physicians who fail to provide quality care. The Board may also develop and implement methods to assess and improve physician practice.
(c) The Board shall have access to an assessment program approved by the Board and charged with assessing the clinical competency of physicians.
(d) The Board may, at its discretion, require a licensee or an applicant for licensure to undergo a physician competency evaluation conducted by an independent evaluator designated by the Board. The results of the assessment are admissible in any hearing before the Board, despite any claim of privilege under a contrary rule or statute. Every person who receives a license to practice medicine or who files an application for a license to practice medicine shall be deemed to have given consent to submit to a physician competency evaluation, and to have waived all objections to the admissibility of the results in any hearing before the Board. If a licensee or applicant fails to submit to a competency assessment when properly directed to do so by the Board, unless failure was due to circumstances deemed to be beyond the licensee's control, the Board shall enter a final order upon proper notice, hearing and proof of refusal to submit to such an evaluation.
(e) If the Board finds, after evaluation by the assessment program, that a licensee or applicant for licensure is unable to competently practice medicine, the Board may take one or any combination of the following actions:
(1) suspend, revoke or deny the physician's medical license;
(2) restrict or limit the physician's practice only to those areas of demonstrated competence; or
(3) direct the licensee to submit to a remediation program, aimed at resolving any identified deficits in medical knowledge or clinical skills, acceptable to the Board.
(f) Any licensee or applicant for licensure who is prohibited from practicing medicine under this section shall, at reasonable intervals, be afforded an opportunity to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Board that he can resume or begin the practice of medicine with reasonable skill and safety. A license shall not be reinstated, however, without the payment of all applicable fees and the fulfillment of all requirements as if the applicant had not been previously prohibited.
(g) The Board may require the assessment program to provide to the Board a written report of the results of the assessment with recommendations for remediation of the identified deficiencies.
(h) The Board shall have access to remedial medical education programs for referral of physicians in need of remediation. Such programs shall be approved by the Board and incorporate and comply with standards set by the Board. During remediation, the program shall provide, at intervals determined by the Board, written reports to the Board on the physician's progress. Upon completion of the remediation program, the program shall provide a written report to the Board addressing the remediation of the previously identified areas of deficiency. The Board may mandate that the physician undergo post-remediation assessment to identify areas of continued deficit. All expenses incurred as part of the assessment and the remediation shall be the sole responsibility of the physician.