Occupational Board Reform Act

General Information

Committee of Jurisdiction:Health and Human Services
Occupation Regulated:Animal Therapist
Occupational Board:Board of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery
Contact:Nicole Barrett
Purpose:The purpose of regulating this occupation is to provide for standards for credentialing individuals in other health care professions to safely provide care with a referral from a veterinarian to animals except for domestic poultry. Equine, dog, and cat massage is also excluded from this occupational requirement pursuant to LB596 (2018).
Regulated Professionals:25
Year Created:2009
Year Active:2009
Sunset Date:N/A

Authorization

Statutory Authorization:Board §38-3319; 38-3320; Animal Therapist §§ 38-3309.01; 38-3321
Parent Agency:Department of Health and Human Services

Membership

Number of Members:5 (currently the public member position is vacant)
Who Appoints:State Board of Health
Legislative Approval:No
Qualifications of Members:Three licensed veterinarians, one licensed veterinary technician, and one public member
Per Diem:Yes
Expense Reimbursement:Yes
Term Length:Terms of 5 years; up to 2 consecutive full 5-year terms
Terms Rotate or Expire at Once:Terms Rotate

Meetings

Required FY 2024-2023:1
Held FY 2024-2023:4
Required FY 2023-2022:1
Held FY 2023-2022:4
Required FY 2022-2021:1
Held FY 2022-2021:3
Required FY 2021-2020:1
Held FY 2021-2020:4
Required FY 2020-2019:1
Held FY 2020-2019:4

Operations

Support Staff:3 (Program Manager, Health Licensing Coordinator, Administrative Technician)
Shared or Separate:Shared
FY 2024-2023 Budget:0
FY 2023-2022 Budget:0
FY 2022-2021 Budget:0
FY 2021-2020 Budget:0
FY 2020-2019 Budget:0
Other Funding Sources:None
Spending Authority:Licensure fees are deposited into the designated cash fund. Additional info sent to the Committee.

Other

Government Certificates Issued:32
Issued Certificate Descriptions:DHHS' licensing system was unfortunately not designed to query by individual license type for a specified period of time and would require additional programming to narrow the data for this request. The number reported reflects those issued since inception. The breakdown by type is: 0 Acupuncturists, 10 Chiro VOM, 10 Chiropractic, 1 Massage Therapist, 2 Occupational Therapists, and 9 Physical Therapists. A licensed animal therapist may perform health care therapy on a covered animal only if (a) the health care therapy is consistent with the licensed animal therapist’s training required for their license in a profession other than veterinary medicine and surgery; (b) the owner of the animal presents to the licensed animal therapist a prior letter of referral for health care therapy that includes a veterinary medical diagnosis and evaluation completed by a licensed veterinarian who has a veterinarian-client-patient relationship with the owner and the animal and has made the diagnosis and evaluation within 90 days immediately preceding the date of the initiation of the health care therapy; and (c) the licensed animal therapist provides health care therapy reports at least monthly to the referring veterinarian.
Government Certificates Revoked:0
Revoked Certificate Descriptions:n/a
Government Certificates Denied:0
Denied Certificate Descriptions:n/a
Government Certificates Penalties Against:0
Penalty Certificate Descriptions:n/a
Explanation of Effectiveness:https://nebraskalegislature.gov/pdf/SurveyDocs/explanation1725388119.pdf
Potential HarmIf the occupation was not regulated, currently, only an individual credentialed as being able to provide veterinary care could provide this care to animals. It would limit access to care for owners of animals covered by the statutes.
Regulation Comparison:https://nebraskalegislature.gov/pdf/SurveyDocs/comparison1725388119.pdf
Subject to Regulations of Act(LB407):Yes
Survey Submitted: September 3, 2024 01:28 PM