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The following lists and briefly describes committees of the North Carolina Medical Board.
The Executive Committee is comprised of five members: the President, Past President, President Elect, Secretary/Treasurer and Member at Large. It is responsible for overseeing all of the Board’s finances including audits, financial statements, cash management, and the annual budget. It handles matters that require immediate attention between Board meetings. The Executive Committee makes recommendations to the Board on legislative issues, public relations, and rule making, and may direct issues to the Policy Committee. It also nominates officers to the Board.
The Disciplinary Committee examines all Investigations and Complaints cases in which the Senior Staff Review Committee (SSRC) has recommended some form of public action, an informal interview, or an order for examination. In addition, the Disciplinary Committee reviews all Medical Malpractice reports and Medical Examiner cases. During the committee meeting, all cases are discussed and staff is present to answer questions from the committee members.
The Review Committee examines all Investigations and Complaints cases in which the Senior Staff Review Committee (SSRC) believes there is no violation of the Medical Practice Act. Committee members usually discuss only those cases which, prior to the meeting, members have extracted for discussion.
The Policy Committee analyzes and evaluates evolving issues related to the practice of medicine and attempts to address those issues by publishing Position Statements, answering inquiries from the public or the profession, or other means. The Policy Committee regularly reviews the Board’s Positions Statements in order to keep them current with the evolving standards and ethics of the medical profession.
The Licensing Committee addresses applications from persons who do not meet the statutory and/or regulatory requirements of the Board, develops procedures for staff on how to handle “not routine” applications, and develops rules for physician licensure.
The Allied Health Committee (AHC) proposes, discusses and develops rules for physician assistants, and generally discusses and reviews all matters involving allied health professionals. The AHC also receives information (such as vote lists, meeting minutes, and actions/recommendations) from the Perfusionist Advisory Committee and reports it to the Board. The AHC is also responsible for reviewing applications for clinical pharmacist practitioners. The members of the AHC also sit on the NP (nurse practitioner) joint subcommittee with members from the Board of Nursing and the CPP (clinical pharmacist practitioner) joint subcommittee with members from the Board of Pharmacy. The NP and CPP joint subcommittees are created by statute to develop rules governing those practitioners. The Allied Health Committee is also involved with the PA Advisory Council, EMS , and the Midwifery Joint Committee.
The Nurse Practitioner Joint Subcommittee is comprised of three members from the Board of Nursing and three members from the Medical Board (usually the members of the Allied Health Committee). It was created to develop rules to govern the performance of nurse practitioners. Recently, the Medical Board and the Nursing Board agreed on a set of protocols for the NP joint subcommittee wherein the NP joint subcommittee will review all NP licensing/approval applications with a “yes” answer and all investigative cases and make recommendations to the respective boards on how those matters should be decided. This committee also discusses all Nurse Practitioner Complaints and Investigations. All members participate in making a recommendation regarding a Nurse Practitioner, but only the NCMB Joint Subcommittee members make recommendations regarding a supervising M.D. The committee meets on odd number months at the Board of Nursing.
The Clinical Pharmacist Practitioners Joint Subcommittee is comprised of four members of the Board of Pharmacy and four physician members of the Medical Board (this usually includes the physician members of the NCMB Allied Health Committee). It was created to develop rules to govern the performance of medical acts by clinical pharmacist practitioners. The committee meets as needed.
The Continued Competence Committee has evolved from the Reentry Committee, whose major focus was directed at practitioners who had let their licenses lapse for 2 or more years. Its goal now is to assist the Board in defining, assessing, and assuring the continued competency of all licensees throughout their professional careers. Issues which this group will address include:
The committee uses resources and data from the Board, and from North Carolina AHEC, state medical schools, FSMB, ABMS, ACGME and other organizations in meeting its goal. This committee will also serve as the liaison to the FSMB as it develops its national competency program.
The NC Physicians Health Program (NCPHP) Compliance Committee consists of three NCMB members, five North Carolina Medical Society members and one physician assistant member. They are charged with reviewing all new NCPHP cases (either by name if known to the Medical Board or by number if anonymous). They also monitor compliance with NCPHP contracts and decide whether/when to break anonymity to protect public health.
The Perfusionist Advisory Committee was created by the North Carolina General Assembly in 2005 to advise the Medical Board on the licensing, disciplining and regulation of perfusionists practicing in North Carolina. The Committee is comprised of three perfusionists, a physician, two hospital administrators, and a public member. The seven person Committee reviews applications for licensure, conducts investigations and disciplinary proceedings, and proposes and adopts administrative rules regulating the practice of perfusion. All actions by the Committee, except for actions related to the composition and governance of the Committee, are subject to review/approval by the Medical Board.