DCI News

Multiple regulatory Boards from the Division of Professional Registration have requested statutes and regulations to be waived or relaxed in order to streamline the process for health professionals to work efficiently and meet the demands during the COVID-19 public health crisis. In addition, other professional licensing Boards need to have specific statutes and regulations waived in order for all licensees to continue to operate during a time in which education and training is unavailable to meet their current licensing requirements.

Many of the existing statutes contain language that is very specific and makes it difficult to manage the ever changing demands during this time. In order to meet the growing needs of their licensees and the public they serve, the following Boards have requested waivers to current statutes and regulations:

Board of Registration for the Healing Arts
Board of Nursing
Dental Board
Board of Pharmacy
Board of Optometry
Board of Occupational Therapy
Board for Respiratory Care
Committee for Social Workers
Committee of Psychologists
Behavior Analyst Advisory Board
Real Estate Appraisers Commission
Board of Accountancy
Office of Tattooing, Body Piercing & Branding
Board of Embalmers & Funeral Directors

Statutory requirements that may require a waiver include the following examples:

• Extensions for periods covered by temporary licenses or permits.

• Minimum standards for nursing programs currently include requirements to place students in clinical sites or completion of nursing education surveys. The Board requests flexibility of this requirement during the COVID-19 public health crisis.

• Some courses for initial licensure, license renewal, or continuing education may currently require an in-person test or course, or a limit to the number of hours that can be taken via an online or distance program. A waiver would allow for online or distance education to fulfill the requirement.

• Allow for remote activities for some professionals, such as pharmacy technicians. This would enable them to continue assisting with non-dispensing activities such as answering phone calls and remote data entry.

• Pharmacy regulations for emergency dispensing which would allow pharmacists to accept prescriptions outside of a licensed pharmacy building, and to allow pharmacy practice outside of a pharmacy, if needed.

• Measures to prevent drug shortages

• Changes to the definition of practice and license requirements for multiple boards which would allow for ease in licensing additional professionals in order to have more providers available to provide services in Missouri.

Visit the Professional Registration website for a complete list of the requested waivers.