Becoming a licensed occupational therapist in Idaho isn’t easy. If you are currently working as an OT in the state, you already know that. You’ve spent years getting the education you need to qualify for your license, including your advanced degree. This included months of actual hands-on fieldwork. Then came all of the time you put into studying for and taking the National Board for Certification of Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) exam to secure your OT certificate. Finally, you gathered together the information required by Idaho’s Occupational Therapy Licensure Board and completed your application.
With all of the time, effort, and money you’ve spent earning your occupational therapy license, it makes sense to take active steps to protect it if you are notified that a misconduct complaint has been filed against you. The LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team is here to help. Our experienced attorneys understand how important your license is to your career and your livelihood, and are ready to protect your rights and defend your license when it is threatened by a misconduct allegation. Call us today at 888.535.3686 or fill out our contact form so we can schedule a confidential consultation to discuss your case and explain how we can help.
Idaho Occupational Therapist Licensing
In Idaho, the state’s Occupational Therapy Licensure Board, part of the state’s Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses (DOPL), is responsible for reviewing occupational therapist license applications and issuing licenses where the applicant has met the state’s requirements. The Board also renews licenses where licensed OTs meet the renewal requirements; monitors compliance with the state’s continuing education requirement for OTs; and (through DOPL) receives and investigates misconduct complaints against occupational therapists.
Licensees must disclose criminal convictions (other than minor traffic violations) and disciplinary actions in other states to the Board when renewing. While not every conviction or disciplinary proceeding will result in the Board refusing to renew a license, failing to disclose them to the Board can itself be considered misconduct.
It is possible to ask the Board to review a conviction, separately from your license renewal, to determine its effect on your license. The Board has an “Inquiry for Impact of Conviction Form” that can be submitted to the Board, along with records of the conviction and a detailed explanation of what took place. The Board will review the application and advise the OT whether the conviction will affect their ability to hold an occupational therapist license in Idaho.
What can be extremely important any time you are disclosing a criminal conviction to the Board, whether on your original application, your renewal, or on an “Inquiry for Impact” form, is the explanation of what happened. This is where the LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team can help. We understand the kinds of issues that are important to the Board when evaluating prior convictions, and we can address those concerns by working with you to draft an effective explanation of what happened in your case.
What Idaho’s Occupational Therapy Licensure Board Does When it Comes to Regulating Occupational Therapists
When it comes to regulating licensed occupational therapists, it is the DOPL that reviews and investigates complaints received from the public, while the Board is responsible for reviewing the information the DOPL uncovers and then deciding whether to administer discipline in a particular case.
Where the discipline is public, it is published on the DOPL website and becomes part of the occupational therapist’s record. Anyone can search for records relating to a particular occupational therapist at the DOPL website and learn of any disciplinary action taken against the occupational therapist. It is also possible to review records of all disciplinary actions taken by the Board.
The Idaho Occupational Therapy Licensure Board’s Disciplinary Authority for Occupational Therapists
The Idaho Occupational Therapy Licensure Board is empowered by Idaho statute to discipline occupational therapists for a number of reasons that fall under the heading of “unprofessional conduct.” The reasons include:
- Lying on or withholding relevant information in connection with their license application
- Criminal convictions, with the exception of minor traffic offenses
- Practicing beyond the scope of their occupational therapist license
- Failing to provide care that meets the standards that occupational therapists are expected to observe and practice
- Not properly supervising an occupational therapy aide when the aide was practicing occupational therapy
- Committing sexual misconduct, including sexual assault on or entering into a sexual relationship with a client
- Abandoning a client without providing for their continued care
- Practicing as an occupational therapist while physically or mentally impaired, including because of alcohol or drug use
- Violating a Board rule or order
The DOPL and the Board have procedures that they follow when a misconduct complaint is received. It is important to take it seriously if you are notified that a misconduct complaint has been filed against you. If you ignore it, it is very likely that the Board will consider you to be in default and will sanction you without you having any input or being able to defend yourself.
The LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team can help you when you are notified that someone has filed a misconduct complaint against you or that the DOPL is investigating you for misconduct. Our experienced attorneys have helped professional license holders all across the country, including in Idaho, protect their licenses when misconduct allegations are made.
How Idaho’s DOPL Learns About Alleged Misconduct
As noted above, occupational therapist misconduct allegations are investigated by the DOPL. The main way the DOPL learns of misconduct allegations against an occupational therapist is when someone files a complaint. The Occupational Therapy Licensure Board maintains a link on its website to the DOPL’s complaints page. Anyone can submit a complaint about an occupational therapist to the DOPL, though most come from patients, family members, and colleagues. Every complaint is received by DOPL, which is responsible for the initial investigation.
Another way the Board learns about potential misconduct is when the occupational therapist “self-reports” it. This can happen when the license is renewed, but it can make sense to report a criminal conviction or disciplinary action taken in another state as soon as you can after it happens, so that you have more control over the process. The LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team can help you evaluate your options when it comes to self-disclosing issues to the Board, and can work with you to prepare a complete and effective disclosure when that is what is required or in your best interests.
Idaho DOPL Disciplinary Investigations
As noted above, complaints about occupational therapist misconduct are received by the DOPL. The DOPL has a specific process it follows when it receives a misconduct complaint about a professional license holder. It will typically take the following steps:
- Review the complaint to determine whether the DOPL has jurisdiction over the alleged misconduct and, if so, whether the complaint actually alleges misconduct
- If it does, the DOPL opens an investigation and assigns it to its investigative team
- If the DOPL investigative team cannot find support for the misconduct allegations in the complaint, the matter may be closed
- If the DOPL investigative team does find support for the misconduct allegations, it will present its findings to the Occupational Therapy Licensure Board
- The Board will then decide, based on the DOPL investigative team’s findings, whether it appears that a misconduct violation occurred
The investigative process is extremely important. If you fail to cooperate with DOPL investigators, it can be held against you when the DOPL makes its report to the Board. Investigations typically include interviews of the occupational therapist, of the person who filed the complaint, and of any other people who may have information helpful to the investigation. Investigators may also review patient records and communications if there is a possibility that they may contain relevant information.
It can be extremely stressful to find yourself being interviewed by a DOPL investigator who you know has been assigned to look into accusations that you committed misconduct. That stress can have a direct effect not only on your ability to remember things that happened in the past that the investigator may ask you about, but also on your ability to answer questions clearly and completely.
The attorneys at the LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team understand this. That’s why we can work with you to prepare you for this stressful experience, helping you understand the process and even practicing with you how to listen carefully to a question, make sure you understand it, and then answer the question you’ve been asked. We can also be there with you when you’re interviewed to help clarify questions that are unclear or that you don’t understand. This can both help you with the stress of the interview and make sure that you provide clear, truthful, and helpful information.
As noted, the Board will review the findings of the DOPL’s investigative team to determine whether the Board should discipline the occupational therapist. There are two general types of discipline: informal and formal.
Informal discipline is not public. It includes letters of concern from the Board to the occupational therapist or agreements that the OT will take corrective action, such as continuing education, monitoring of their practice, or additional supervision. If any type of discipline is to happen in a case, informal discipline is obviously the preferred type.
Formal discipline is public. The Board may issue a formal Order of Discipline that can include a public reprimand, a formal “corrective action plan” that the occupational therapist must follow, and restrictions on the OT’s license. It can also include suspension or even revocation of the OT’s license, which, in some cases, may be stayed during a period of probation.
In cases where the Board decides that formal discipline is appropriate, the occupational therapist will typically have a chance to agree to the discipline without a formal hearing. In many cases, the final terms of these proposed agreements can be negotiated. This is another area where the LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team can help. Most cases do not go to a formal hearing; they resolve themselves with agreements. Our attorneys regularly negotiate with licensing boards on behalf of our professional license clients. We are often able to negotiate better terms than those that were originally proposed.
Not all cases resolve themselves with stipulated agreements, of course. If the occupational therapist does not accept a proposed stipulation, the Board will file an administrative complaint against the OT. The matter will then proceed to what is called a Contested Hearing. When that happens, the LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team can protect your rights and defend your occupational therapist license at your contested hearing.
The LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team Can Help Protect Your Occupational Therapist License in Idaho
If you learn that someone has filed a misconduct complaint against you in Idaho, your occupational therapist license may be in jeopardy. Because your OT license is probably your most valuable personal asset, one that is the basis for your career and livelihood, it makes sense to take steps to defend yourself. The best way to do that is to contact the LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team.
Our experienced attorneys have helped professional license holders, including occupational therapists, protect their licenses against misconduct complaints. We understand the laws, rules, regulations, and procedures that apply in this case. We know how to protect your rights from the very start and how to defend your license all the way through until the matter is resolved.
Call the LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team today at 888.535.3686 or by filling out our online contact form. We will schedule a confidential consultation where you can tell us about your case, and we can explain the many ways we can help. You have worked hard to earn your occupational therapist license – let the LLF National Law Firm help you protect it!