Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, if you are ordering pharmaceuticals in an approved facility where you are practicing.

No. You must work in an approved facility that is in an area of critical need. Home health care and mobile facilities do not meet the requirements for designation as an approved facility.

A license with the current status of inactive or retired can be “reactivated” at any time by contacting the Board of Medicine in writing. You may submit the request by emailing BOM_PostLicensure@flhealth.gov or by mailing the request to our office. The requirements to reactivate a license are checked individually for each licensee. The Board office will contact the requester with the individual requirements for fees and CMEs that would need to be completed for reactivation of an inactive or retired license holder.

General requirements to reactivate a license are:

• Fees for reactivation
• Proof of completing all required CME for each year of inactive or retired status.
• Completed Health History Questions and Financial Responsibility form within the reactivation packet.

Any physician whose license has been inactive or retired, who has not practiced for 2 years out of the previous 4 years in another jurisdiction, shall be required to appear before the Credentials Committee of the Board and establish the ability to practice with the skill and safety sufficient to protect the health, and welfare of the public. At the time of appearance, the physician must:

• Demonstrate compliance with 1 through 3 above.
• Demonstrate successful completion of the SPEX exam with a score of at least 75 achieved within the year prior to the appearance before the Credentials Committee. For information about the SPEX please log onto the Federation of State Medical Boards website at www.fsmb.org.
• Account for any activities related to the practice of medicine during the period that the license was on retired status or not practicing in another jurisdiction and establish an absence of malpractice or disciplinary actions pending in any jurisdiction.

The Department shall refuse to reactivate the retired status license of a physician who is under investigation or prosecution in any jurisdiction for an action that would constitute a violation of chapter 458, FS or the professional practice acts administered by the department and the boards, until 15 days after the Department receives the final results of the investigation or prosecution.

Any surgical procedure performed in a physician’s office. See Rule 64B8-9.009(1)(d), F.A.C., for more information.

Section 458.238, F.S. – Office Surgeries

Rule 64B-4.002, F.A.C. – Office Surgery Inspection Fee

Rule 64B-4.003, F.A.C. – Office Surgery Registration Requirements, Fees

Rule 64B8-9.009, F.A.C. – Standard of Care for Office Surgery

Rule 64B8-9.0091, F.A.C. – Requirement for Physician Office Registration; Inspection or Accreditation

Rule 64B8-9.0092, F.A.C. – Approval of Physician Office Accrediting Organizations

Level I office surgeries (Rule 64B8-9.009(3), F.A.C.) include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Minor procedures such as excision of skin lesions, moles, warts, cysts, lipomas, and repair of lacerations or surgery limited to the skin and subcutaneous tissue performed under topical or local anesthesia not involving drug-induced alteration of consciousness other than minimal preoperative tranquilization of the patient.
2. Liposuction involving the removal of less than 1000cc supernatant fat.
3. Incision and drainage of superficial abscesses, limited endoscopies such as proctoscopies, skin biopsies, arthrocentesis, thoracentesis, paracentesis, dilation of urethra, cystoscopic procedures, and closed reduction of simple fractures or small joint dislocations (i.e., finger and toe joints).
4. Anesthesia is local, topical, or none. There is no drug-induced alteration of consciousness other than minimal preoperative tranquilization of the patient.
5. Chances of complications requiring hospitalization are remote.

Level II office surgeries (Rules 64B8-9.009(4) and (5), F.A.C.) include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Procedures during which perioperative medication and sedation are administered intravenously, intramuscularly, or rectally, thus making intra- and postoperative monitoring necessary.
2. Hemorrhoidectomies, hernia repairs, reduction of simple fractures, large joint dislocations, breast biopsies, colonoscopies, and liposuction involving the removal of up to 4000cc supernatant fat.
3. Surgeries in which the patient is placed in a state which allows the patient to tolerate unpleasant procedures while maintaining adequate cardiorespiratory function and the ability to respond purposefully to verbal command and/or tactile stimulation. Patients whose only response is reflex withdrawal from a painful stimulus are sedated to a greater degree than encompassed by this definition.

Level III office surgery (Rule 64B8-9.009(6), F.A.C.) is that surgery which involves, or reasonably should require, the use of general anesthesia or major conduction anesthesia and preoperative sedation. This includes, but is not limited to, the use of:

1. Intravenous sedation beyond that defined for Level II office surgery. General anesthesia refers to a loss of consciousness and loss of vital reflexes with probable requirement of external support of pulmonary or cardiac functions or major conduction anesthesia.
2. Only patients classified under the American Society of Anesthesiologist’s risk classification criteria as Class I or II are appropriate candidates to undergo Level III office surgery procedures.

Please print and fill out the Office Surgery Registration Application. Mail the completed application along with the required registration fee and all staff credentials to Department of Health, Post Office Box 6330, Tallahassee, FL 32314-6330.

The fee is $150. See Rule 64B-4.003(2), F.A.C., for more information.

Most registration applications can be processed and approved within 30 days of receiving a complete application. Incomplete applications will take longer to process.

To serve as a Designated Physician, a physician must have a current, active, and unencumbered license and practice medicine at the physician office where office surgeries are to be performed.

No. However, before a Designated Physician can perform office surgeries, he or she must provide all necessary credentials to the Department of Health to demonstrated that he or she is qualified to be added to an office surgery registration. If a Designated Physician does not intend to perform office surgeries, he or she must provide a letter to the Department stating that he or she will practice medicine at the office surgery facility but will not perform office surgeries.

Every Florida licensed physician who holds an active Florida license and performs certain Level I or any Level II or Level III office surgeries in an office surgery facility registered in Florida must register with the Department of Health. It is the physician’s responsibility to ensure that every office in which he or she performs a regulated procedure is registered regardless of whether other physicians are practicing in the same office or whether the office is non-physician owned.