Board of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery

Description

The mandate of the Board of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery is to protect the public's health and safety and to promote the welfare of the state by regulating the competency and quality of professional healthcare providers under its jurisdiction. The board accomplishes this through a variety of activities working with the Department of Health, Health Professions and Facilities.

Board duties include:

• Establishing qualifications for minimal competency to grant or deny licensure of osteopathic physicians.
• Regulating the competency and quality of professional healthcare providers under its jurisdiction by establishing, monitoring and enforcing qualifications for licensure.
• Establishing and monitoring compliance with continuing education requirements.
• Ensuring consistent standards of practice.
• Developing continuing competency mechanisms.
• Assessing, investigating and making recommendations related to complaints against physicians which may range from a notice of correction to a license revocation.
• Serving as reviewing members on disciplinary cases and serve on disciplinary hearing panels.
• Serving as members of standing committees, when appointed.
• Developing rules, policies and procedures that promote the delivery of quality healthcare to state residents.

Qualifications

The board is made up of nine osteopathic physicians and two public members appointed by the governor. The osteopathic physician must have been in active practice as a licensed osteopathic physician in Washington for at least five years immediately preceding appointment. All members must be Washington residents.

Public member representatives may not:

• Be a member of any other health care licensing board or commission;
• Have a fiduciary obligation to a facility rendering healthcare services;
• Have a financial interest in the rendering of health services.

Board participation expectation guidelines

The following expectation guidelines are intended to serve as a reference for current members and for prospective appointees of the board:

• Attend regular board meetings, scheduled about every six weeks, during business hours on Fridays. There is also a Department of Health one-day board, commission, and committee conference.
• Participate in telephone conferences to review complaints and ongoing cases. These take about one hour and are usually done between board meetings.
• Participate in settlement conferences with respondent's attorney, staff attorney and/or board staff. These are usually held at the convenience of the reviewing board member and can take several hours. The number held each year depends on the number of cases charged for that board member.
• Participate on hearing panels from one day to several days two to three times per year. Hearings may be held in the respondent's practice area to accommodate witnesses. A panel of three board members generally hears disciplinary cases. Not all board members are required to participate in every hearing.
• Prepare for all meetings by reading materials sent one to two weeks in advance of the scheduled meeting date. The packets take an average of two to four hours to read before each business meeting. In addition, between eight and 24 hours are spent reviewing complaint files before each meeting.
• Assist newly appointed board members as necessary.

Total annual time commitment

• Meetings/conferences: Eight to ten days per year
• Meeting preparation: Two to four hours per meeting (about one day per year)
• Complaint file review: Four to six hours per complaint assigned (about four days per year)
• Hearing panels: Three to six days per year

Performance guidelines for newly appointed board members

Attend an initial orientation about the board presented by Department of Health staff. This is about half a day in length. Initial orientation outlines the legal authority of the board, the roles and responsibilities of board members, ethics, confidentiality, the legal liability of board members and the Department of Health, the organizational structure of the department, roles and responsibilities of department staff, roles and responsibilities of staff attorneys and assistant attorneys general, disciplinary processes, rule making and other issues.

• Attends committee meetings if necessary.
• Performs duties of current members.

Become a Board, Commission or Committee Member.

Name and term expiration date of members

In accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act (Chapter 42.30 RCW) and the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 34.05 RCW), the following is the schedule of regular meetings for the Department of Health, Board of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery, for the year 2021. The Board of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery meetings are open to the public and access for persons with disabilities may be arranged with advance notice; please contact the staff person below for more information.

Agendas for the meetings listed below are made available in advance via listserv and the Department of Health website (see below). Every attempt is made to ensure that the agenda is up-to-date. However, the Board of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery reserves the right to change or amend agendas at the meeting.

All meetings begin at 9 a.m. unless otherwise noted.

2024

• September 13 (PDF)
• June 7 (PDF)
• March 25 (PDF)
• January 26 (PDF)

2023

• December 1 (PDF)
• October 27 (PDF)
• September 15 (PDF)
• June 2 (PDF)
• March 27 (PDF)
• January 27 (PDF)