STATE BOARD OF
VETERINARY MEDICINE[49 PA. CODE CH. 31] Professional Conduct; Advertising [28 Pa.B. 2927] The State Board of Veterinary Medicine (Board) proposes to amend § 31.21, Principle 5 (relating to advertising), pertaining to necessary information when advertising emergency services, to read as set forth in Annex A.
A. Effective Date
The amendment will be effective upon publication of a final-form regulation in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
B. Statutory Authority
The amendment is proposed under the dual authority of sections 5(1) and (2) of the Veterinary Medicine Practice Act (act) (63 P. S. § 485.5(1) and (2)). Section 5(1) of the act empowers the Board to adopt reasonable rules and regulations governing the practice of veterinary medicine necessary to enable it to carry out and make effective the purpose and intent of the act. Section 5(2) of the act empowers the Board to adopt rules and regulations of professional conduct appropriate to establish and maintain a high standard of integrity, skills and practice in the profession of veterinary medicine.
C. Background and Purpose
The purpose of the proposal is to amend Principle 5 of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Veterinarians pertaining to advertising, requiring that veterinarians advertising emergency or 24-hour veterinary services include in the advertisements the hours when services will be provided and whether a veterinarian is on the premises or on call.
The Rules of Professional Conduct for Veterinarians were amended at 24 Pa.B. 1481 (March 18, 1994). Since that date, the Board has received suggestions that it require advertisements for emergency or 24-hour veterinary care to specify the type of veterinarian availability provided to avoid client confusion. The Pennsylvania Veterinary Medical Association and Priority Veterinary Consultants advocate adoption of the proposed amendment.
The Board believes that veterinarians have a special professional responsibility when advertising the availability of emergency services which takes into account when clients are most likely to use advertising. First, except for teaching hospitals and clinics, veterinary establishments are the sole source of emergency treatment. Most establishments have arrangements for current clients. However, many owners may not be a client of a veterinary establishment, or may be out of the establishment's service area when an emergency arises. The Board believes that in many cases owners are able to assess the nature of the emergency and whether they should seek the services of a veterinarian who will be immediately available at the veterinary establishment. In the case of a life-threatening emergency, this information may be invaluable to the owner in evaluating the appropriateness of a facility. For these reasons, the Board believes that veterinarians should provide this information.
D. Description of Proposed Amendment
Principle 5 currently proscribes false and misleading conduct and contains guidelines for the use of testimonials and endorsements. It is amended to require veterinarians advertising emergency services or 24-hour veterinary services to include in the advertisements the hours when services will be provided and whether a veterinarian is on the premises or on call.
E. Compliance with Executive Order 1996-1
In accordance with the requirements of Executive Order 1996-1 (February 6, 1996), in drafting and promulgating the proposed amendment, the Board solicited input from the regulated community as well as the Pennsylvania Veterinary Medical Association, the Regional Veterinary Medical Associations, the Veterinary Technicians and Assistants Association of Pennsylvania, the Animal Health Commission, the University of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Association of Veterinary Technician Education. The Board reviewed and considered all comments in drafting the proposed amendment.
F. Fiscal Impact and Paperwork Requirements
The proposed amendment will have no fiscal impact on the Commonwealth or its political subdivisions. Veterinarians who advertise emergency services or 24-hour veterinary care may incur additional costs in amending their advertisements if the advertisements do not list the hours during which the emergency/24-hour services will be provided and indicate whether there is a veterinarian on premises or on call. These costs may ultimately be passed on to the public.
G. Sunset Date
The Board continually monitors its regulations. Therefore, no sunset date has been assigned.
H. Regulatory Review
Under section 5(a) of the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. § 745.5(a)), on June 17, 1998, the Board submitted a copy of this proposed amendment to the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) and the Chairpersons of the House Professional Licensure Committee and the Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee. In addition to submitting the proposed amendment, the Board has provided IRRC and the Committees with a copy of a detailed Regulatory Analysis Form prepared by the Board in compliance with Executive Order 1996-1, ''Regulatory Review and Promulgation.'' A copy of this material is available to the public upon request.
If IRRC has objections to any portion of the proposed amendment, it will notify the Board within 10 days of the close of the Committees' review period. The notification shall specify the regulatory review criteria which have not been met by that portion. The Regulatory Review Act specifies detailed procedures for review, prior to final publication of the regulation, by the Board, the General Assembly and the Governor, of objections raised.
I. Public Comment
Interested persons are invited to submit written comments, suggestions or objections regarding the proposed amendment to Deborah B. Eskin, Board Counsel, State Board of Veterinary Medicine, P. O. Box 2649, 116 Pine Street, Harrisburg, PA 17105-2649, within 30 days of publication of this proposed rulemaking.
JEFFREY M. OTT, V.M.D.,
ChairpersonFiscal Note: 16A-576. No fiscal impact; (8) recommends adoption.
Annex A TITLE 49. PROFESSIONAL AND VOCATIONAL STANDARDS PART I. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Subpart A. PROFESSIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL AFFAIRS CHAPTER 31. STATE BOARD OF VETERINARY MEDICINE PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT § 31.21.
Rules of Professional Conduct for Veterinarians. * * * * * Principle 5. Advertising.
* * * * * (c) Advertising for emergency veterinary services shall provide information as to whether a veterinarian is on the premises, or on call, and as to any limitation on hours during which emergency services may not be available. For the purposes of this section ''on the premises'' means that a veterinarian is physically present in the veterinary establishment and immediately available and ''on call'' means that the veterinarian is available within a reasonable time.
* * * * * [Pa.B. Doc. No. 98-1015. Filed for public inspection June 26, 1998, 9:00 a.m.]
