permanent inability to perform his or her official duties, or commission of a felony. (2) Each board member and each former board member serving on a probable cause panel shall be exempt from civil liability for any act or omission when acting in the member’s official capacity, and the department shall defend any such member in any action against any board or member of a board arising from any such act or omission. In addition, the department may defend the member’s company or business in any action against the company or business if the department determines that the actions from which the suit arises are actions taken by the member in the member’s official capacity and were not beyond the member’s statutory authority. In providing such defense, the department may employ or utilize the legal services of the Department of Legal Affairs or outside counsel retained pursuant to s. 287.059. Fees and costs of providing legal services provided under this subsection shall be paid from a trust fund used by the department to implement this chapter, subject to the provisions of s. 456.025. 456.009—Legal and Investigative Services (1) The department shall provide board counsel for boards within the department by contracting with the Department of Legal Affairs, by retaining private counsel pursuant to s. 287.059, or by providing department staff counsel. The primary responsibility of board counsel shall be to represent the interests of the citizens of the state. A board shall provide for the periodic review and evaluation of the services provided by its board counsel. Fees and costs of such counsel shall be paid from a trust fund used by the department to implement this chapter, subject to the provisions of s. 456.025. All contracts for independent counsel shall provide for periodic review and evaluation by the board and the department of services provided. (2) The department may employ or use the legal services of outside counsel and the investigative services of outside personnel. However, no attorney employed or utilized by the department shall prosecute a matter and provide legal services to the board with respect to the same matter. (3) Any person retained by the department under contract to review materials, make site visits, or provide expert testimony regarding any complaint or application filed with the department relating to a profession under the jurisdiction of the department shall be considered an agent of the department in determining the state insurance coverage and sovereign immunity protection applicability of ss. 284.31 and 768.28. 456.011—Boards; Organization; Meetings; Compensation and Travel Expenses (1) Each board within the department shall comply with the provisions of this chapter. (2) The board shall annually elect from among its number a chairperson and vice chairperson. (3) The board shall meet at least once annually and may meet as often as is necessary. Meetings shall be conducted through teleconferencing or other technological means, unless disciplinary hearings involving standard of care, sexual misconduct, fraud, impairment, or felony convictions; licensure denial hearings; or controversial rule hearings are being conducted; or unless otherwise approved in advance of the meeting by the director of the Division of Medical Quality Assurance. The chairperson or a quorum of the board shall have the authority to call meetings, except as provided above relating to in-
(10) Set an examination fee that includes all costs to develop, purchase, validate, administer, and defend the examination and is an amount certain to cover all administrative costs plus the actual per-applicant cost of the examination. (11) Work cooperatively with the Agency for Health Care Administration and the judicial system to recover Medicaid overpayments by the Medicaid program. The department shall investigate and prosecute health care practitioners who have not remitted amounts owed to the state for an overpayment from the Medicaid program pursuant to a final order, judgment, or stipulation or settlement. 456.005—Long-Range Policy Planning To facilitate efficient and cost-effective regulation, the department and the board, if appropriate, shall develop and implement a long-range policy planning and monitoring process that includes recommendations specific to each profession. The process shall include estimates of revenues, expenditures, cash balances, and performance statistics for each profession. The period covered may not be less than 5 years. The department, with input from the boards and licensees, shall develop and adopt the long-range plan. The department shall monitor compliance with the plan and, with input from the boards and licensees, shall annually update the plans. The department shall provide concise management reports to the boards quarterly. As part of the review process, the department shall evaluate: (1) Whether the department, including the boards and the various functions performed by the department, is operating efficiently and effectively and if there is a need for a board or council to assist in cost-effective regulation. (2) How and why the various professions are regulated. (3) Whether there is a need to continue regulation, and to what degree. (4) Whether or not consumer protection is adequate, and how it can be improved. (5) Whether there is consistency between the various practice acts. (6) Whether unlicensed activity is adequately enforced. The plans shall include conclusions and recommendations on these and other issues as appropriate. 456.006—Contacting Boards Through Department Each board under the jurisdiction of the department may be contacted through the headquarters of the department in the City of Tallahassee. 456.007—Board Members Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, any person who otherwise meets the requirements of law for board membership and who is connected in any way with any medical college, dental college, or community college may be appointed to any board so long as that connection does not result in a relationship wherein such college represents the person’s principal source of income. However, this section shall not apply to the physicians required by s. 458.307(2) to be on the faculty of a medical school in this state or on the full-time staff of a teaching hospital in this state. 456.008—Accountability and Liability of Board Members (1) Each board member shall be accountable to the Governor for the proper performance of duties as a member of the board. The Governor shall investigate any legally sufficient complaint or unfavorable written report received by the Governor or by the department or a board concerning the actions of the board or its individual members. The Governor may suspend from office any board member for malfeasance, misfeasance, neglect of duty, drunkenness, incompetence,
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Book Code: MFL1227
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