43-17.3-05. Self-reporting and self-referral

43-17.3-05. Self-reporting and self-referral 1. A licensee or student may voluntarily self-refer or self-report to the physician health program or the board for a potentially impairing condition. 2. A licensee: a. Who under this section voluntarily seeks the assistance of the physician health program in assessing or dealing with a condition that could possibly lead to impairment will not be reported to the board solely on the basis of this self-referral. However, if a licensee who self-refers or self-reports refuses evaluation by the program; if the evaluation reveals evidence of a condition or impairment that could affect the licensee's ability to practice or constitutes a threat to the safety of patients or the public; or the licensee refuses to cooperate with the treatment plan, monitoring and followup, or aftercare devised by the program, including any recommendation about current continuation in practice, the program shall report the identity and findings of the evaluation of the licensee to the board. Participation in the program does not protect a licensee from board action resulting from a report of the licensee's possible violations of chapter 43-17. b. Who self-reports or self-refers to the board for a potentially impairing condition may be referred by the board to the physician health program in the manner prescribed by board policies, and subsequent reporting by the program to the board will be at the discretion and in the manner prescribed by the board. c. Who is participating in or who has completed a contract for treatment with and has been discharged from the physician health program, who is in full compliance with all facets of the treatment plan or has completed treatment and is compliant with aftercare, may answer in the negative on any question on the application to the board for licensure or licensure renewal regarding current impairment by that condition or those conditions for which the licensee is currently participating in or has been discharged from the physician health program. However, any recurrence of the impairing condition or conditions or the existence of other potentially impairing conditions that are not currently known to the physician health program must be reported on the application.