HB1199.html

To amend Chapter 9 of Title 43 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to chiropractors, so as to define the term diagnosis; to require students for licensure to meet standards established by the Council on Chiropractic Education including certain education and training requirements; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

Chapter 9 of Title 43 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to chiropractors, is amended by adding at the end of Code Section 43_9_1, relating to definitions, a new paragraph to read as follows:
"(3) 'Diagnosis' means a process which attempts to identify the nature and cause of a patient´s complaint or abnormal finding, or both, and is essential to the ongoing process of reasoning used by the doctor of chiropractic to direct patient management."

Said chapter is further amended by striking subsection (f) of Code Section 43_9_7, relating to qualifications of applicants for license to practice chiropractic, and inserting in its place the following:
"(f) All students for licensure must meet applicable requirements and standards as established by the Council on Chiropractic Education for chiropractic programs and institutions, including the education and training that will prepare graduates to:
(1) Assess the patient´s general health status, complaints, and problems leading to a diagnosis;
(2) Become primary care chiropractors serving as a point of entry for patients to access illness and wellness related care;
(3) Develop the attitudes, knowledge, and skills required to collect appropriate patient assessment data, determine a diagnosis, and establish a plan of appropriate chiropractic management, comanagement, or referral commensurate with the needs of the individual patient; and
(4) Select and organize pertinent information leading to the development of the problem and differential diagnosis list.
(g) A student enrolled in the last academic year of a chiropractic school or college meeting the requirements of this chapter as set forth in subsection (d) of this Code section may, at the discretion of the board, take the examination as required in Code Section 43_9_8; provided, however, that such student has successfully completed all other requirements for application for licensure as established either by this chapter or by board rule. Such a student who successfully passes the examination shall not be eligible for licensure until all of the requirements of application for licensure established by this chapter or board rule are met."