Delegation to Licensed and Unlicensed Personnel

[Editor's Note:  This important issue resurfaces periodically in regulatory and insurance investigations of ICS members.  This week the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation contacted an ICS physician member to investigate a complaint for “aiding and abetting the unlicensed practice of massage therapy,” because the physician delegated certain patient care tasks to a trained but unlicensed massage therapist employee in his office.  The physician had followed proper delegation procedures, which the ICS initiated and had codified in the law, as explained in this article.  Following the doctor’s confirmation with ICS staff, he advised the investigator he had compliantly followed the guidance in this article.  The IDFPR staff agreed and closed the case.  This illustrates the significance of proper delegation of tasks and the role of the ICS in protecting members and the profession.]

The authority of a physician to delegate patient care to office staff may well be one of the most important tools in running a chiropractic practice. In fact, it would be difficult to imagine how a practice could function if the physician were required to perform every task involved in the patient encounter.