Your professional license as an occupational therapist in Kern County is invaluable, especially to people who have suffered a disability, illness, or injury. They depend on your skills to regain, develop, and maintain critical skills for daily living. However, your close working relationship with your patients can cost you your license. If you make a mistake or are accused of negligence, the Board of Occupational Therapy can revoke or suspend your license. This can also happen if you engage in criminal acts or any acts that put the public at risk of harm.
But we can help at Kern County License Attorney. We know how important your career is to you, your dependents, and your patients. We can fight any allegation you face to protect your reputation, license, and livelihood.
Reasons Why Your Occupational Therapist License is Important
As an occupational therapist, your help is paramount to individuals and families who have suffered a serious illness, injury, or disability. When a family member’s physical abilities are affected and they are unable to handle basic life tasks, this can take a significant toll on the entire family. Occupational therapists are professionals who help such individuals regain their abilities or master new skills for daily living. The kind of help you offer depends on a patient’s individual needs, the personalized care or treatment they require, and the adaptations they need to make to improve their quality of life.
This requires extensive training and retraining to evaluate your patients’ needs and recommend appropriate treatment effectively. It means spending years in training and additional time gaining the right experience to effectively assess patients’ cognitive, emotional, and physical needs. A higher level of skills also helps you develop an effective treatment plan, tailored to the needs of every patient you handle. Your primary goal is to ensure that a patient who could not cook, eat, dress, or even walk is able to do that by the end of the treatment.
While this seems like a very noble profession, you can make a mistake or face a disagreement with your patient that results in a complaint to your licensing agency. When this happens, it puts your license and career at risk. If you are accused of unprofessionalism, negligence, criminal acts, or incompetence, the agency can take stern action against you to protect vulnerable patients from physical, emotional, or financial harm.
Sadly, most disciplinary actions by the Board of Occupational Therapy affect your career, license, and livelihood. Even the most lenient discipline, like a public citation, can leave you without work because it affects your professional reputation. Severe actions, such as revocation or suspension of your license, leave you without a livelihood.
However, a skilled license attorney can minimize the impact of an allegation on your career or livelihood. They can negotiate for a favorable outcome or fight the allegation altogether. They can also defend your rights and use mitigating factors to influence the board’s final decision.
Disciplinary Guidelines By the Board of Occupational Therapy
The Occupational Therapy Board is the primary licensing body for qualified occupational therapists. The board issues licenses to ensure that only competent therapists serve public needs in California. You need a license to offer your services in the state legally. A license also proves your reliability and professionalism. Once you become licensed, you must abide by the board’s standards to maintain your license. Otherwise, you can lose it within months, weeks, or even days.
By issuing licenses to competent occupational therapists, the board does not act in favor of the therapist but in favor of the public. Its primary role is to ensure that the public only receives the best care when hiring an occupational therapist. That is why qualified occupational therapists undergo lengthy screening processes to ensure they have the right attitude, skills, and experience to serve public needs effectively. If you fall short of any of the requirements set by the board, the board has the right to cancel or suspend your license.
Certified therapists are accused of all kinds of violations throughout their careers. The board takes action only if an allegation is substantiated. Here are some allegations that the board can consider serious enough to take disciplinary action against an occupational therapist:
Incompetence and Professional Negligence
You can be accused of gross negligence or incompetence in the following situations:
- When you fail to meet the expected standard of care, you put your patients at risk of harm or injury
- When you hire unskilled assistants and fail to supervise their work, or allow them to perform tasks that are beyond their level of skills
- When you offer services beyond the limitations of your license
- When you offer unnecessary treatment
This is a serious allegation that can result in the suspension or revocation of your license. The board can first investigate the matter to gather more evidence before taking the necessary action.
Unethical or Unprofessional Conduct
An allegation under this category can arise in various situations, including the following:
- If you engage in sexual misconduct with your patients, including sexual contact, sexual relationships, or sexual harassment
- Abusing a patient physically, mentally, verbally, emotionally, or financially
- Violating your professional boundaries
Some accusations under this category are very serious and can result in the revocation of your license. Additionally, you could face criminal charges, especially for sexual harassment, physical abuse, or financial abuse.
Billing and Documentation Fraud
Fraud is a serious allegation that happens when your actions are geared towards an unlawful or undeserved gain. Some of the actions that can result in allegations under this category include:
- Falsifying your patients’ documents to bill their insurance provider for services not rendered, or to upcode a particular service for more reimbursement
- Failing to maintain accurate patient records or falsifying records for selfish reasons
Legal or Licensing Violations
The Board of Occupational Therapy expects that licensed professionals will maintain valid licenses throughout their careers. If your license expires, you must renew it immediately to avoid practicing on an invalid license. If your license is suspended, you must first reinstate it to continue practicing. Practicing without a license, or on an invalid license, is a serious violation that can result in the cancellation of your license. You can also face serious consequences if you fraudulently obtain a professional license.
Additionally, licensed professionals must abide by the law, especially laws that substantially affect their profession. Thus, a criminal arrest or conviction can affect your career, especially if it is for a theft, drug, or DUI offense.
Other legal issues that can affect your license include alcohol and substance abuse or addiction, especially if it affects your ability to offer safe services.
Reasons to Defend Your Occupational Therapy License
Your license is very important to you, your family, and your patients. You depend on it for your livelihood, while your patients depend on your skills for a better quality of life. That is why you should fight to keep it at all times. If there is an allegation that threatens your career, fight it with the help of a skilled attorney. This way, you get to practice your profession for years. Here are the main reasons to defend your license against any allegation you face:
To Protect Your Livelihood
Your career is your main investment in this life. Consider the number of years you have spent obtaining the skills to become the competent occupational therapist you are today. Consider the dedication you had to put in your studies to master the skills and gain the experience that make you a reputable professional in your field. This is something you have invested so much time and money in. Losing all that would be a great loss to your greatest investment.
Additionally, a career in occupational therapy is well-paying. It also has great potential for growth. You become more valuable as an occupational therapist as you gain experience and become more reputable in the medical field. You risk losing your income and the opportunity to grow your career once you lose your license. To continue earning a living, you must invest more time and money in another career.
Thus, act as soon as you learn about an allegation against you. Whether the allegation is true or false, prepare to defend your license. The board will not hesitate to take action if it believes your actions threaten your patients’ safety. A skilled attorney will guide you to the right defense strategy, according to the nature and severity of the allegation.
To Defend Yourself Against Permanent Consequences
Remember that the consequences of unprofessionalism, incompetence, or negligence in this field are severe and can last for years. For example, a single allegation can result in the permanent cancellation of your occupational therapy license. When this happens, you cannot return to your career and must pursue another career to continue earning a living. Some actions by the board result in a severe impact on your professional reputation. This can affect you for years, especially if the allegation of unprofessionalism remains on your performance record.
Fighting the allegation before the board files a formal complaint is advisable. It protects you from severe and permanent consequences on your career and livelihood.
Some of the actions by the board that have permanent consequences on your license include the following:
- License revocation leaves you without a livelihood. Fighting before a revocation happens can result in more favorable disciplines like probation or suspension, which are all temporary.
- Unfair accusations, which could arise from a misunderstanding or employer-employee disputes. These can affect how you are viewed in the medical field for a very long time.
- Revocations, suspensions, and probations that remain permanently on your performance record. Since performance records are usually publicly available, such actions can affect your ability to gain clients or get a job.
To Maintain Mobility and Flexibility
There are so many areas you can work in as a licensed occupational therapist. You can work for a hospital, an individual, or a family, or you can open your own practice. Sadly, your flexibility is severely affected when you face a complaint against you. It becomes difficult to move from one area of practice to another, especially when your record of performance is publicly available. Additionally, growing in your career becomes almost impossible, especially in areas where a promotion is based on merit or reputation. If the board suspends your license for years or puts you on probation, your career growth is significantly set back.
Fighting the allegation before the board takes action helps you maintain your professionalism and reputation in the industry. If the board dismisses the allegation or settles it before a formal complaint is brought against you, you do not get a record that may affect your flexibility.
To Mitigate Possible Penalties
Working with a skilled license attorney also helps you avoid harsh penalties in case of a serious allegation. Your attorney will find evidence to counter the allegations against you. They can also present mitigating factors to convince the board to dismiss the allegation or to adopt a lenient disciplinary measure.
Remember that some of the disciplinary actions used by the Occupational Therapy Board are very severe. Your attorney can use options like an out-of-court settlement to prevent severe disciplinary action. If you agree to resolve the matter with your accuser, the board will dismiss the allegations and not take any action.
Your attorney can also take advantage of leniency measures, such as probation, rather than suspension or revocation. You can continue earning a living while on probation. You also have the chance to make the necessary amends, such as undergoing treatment or rehabilitation, to avoid harsher discipline.
Find Competent Occupational Therapy License Defense Services Near Me
If your occupational therapy license is at risk of suspension or revocation in Kern County, you must be very worried. This is because of how long and how much it took to master the skills to qualify for licensing. This also means losing a career that helps you earn a living for you and your dependents.
However, an allegation does not have to result in a harsh penalty by the Occupational Therapy Board. Our skilled attorneys at Kern County License Attorney can help you fight any allegation that threatens your livelihood. We can also guide you through all complex administrative processes and fight for your rights. Call us at 661-558-1950 to learn more.
