(a) Physical therapy—(1) Physical therapy means services prescribed by a physician or other licensed practitioner of the healing arts within the scope of his or her practice under State law and provided to a beneficiary by or under the direction of a qualified physical therapist. It includes any necessary supplies and equipment.

(2) A “qualified physical therapist” is an individual who meets personnel qualifications for a physical therapist at §484.115.

(b) Occupational therapy—(1) Occupational therapy means services prescribed by a physician or other licensed practitioner of the healing arts within the scope of his or her practice under State law and provided to a beneficiary by or under the direction of a qualified occupational therapist. It includes any necessary supplies and equipment.

(2) A “qualified occupational therapist” is an individual who meets personnel qualifications for an occupational therapist at §484.115.

(c) Services for individuals with speech, hearing, and language disorders—(1) Services for individuals with speech, hearing, and language disorders means diagnostic, screening, preventive, or corrective services provided by or under the direction of a speech pathologist or audiologist, for which a patient is referred by a physician or other licensed practitioner of the healing arts within the scope of his or her practice under State law. It includes any necessary supplies and equipment.

(2) A “speech pathologist” is an individual who meets one of the following conditions:

(i) Has a certificate of clinical competence from the American Speech and Hearing Association.

(ii) Has completed the equivalent educational requirements and work experience necessary for the certificate.

(iii) Has completed the academic program and is acquiring supervised work experience to qualify for the certificate.

(3) A “qualified audiologist” means an individual with a master's or doctoral degree in audiology that maintains documentation to demonstrate that he or she meets one of the following conditions:

(i) The State in which the individual furnishes audiology services meets or exceeds State licensure requirements in paragraph (c)(3)(ii)(A) or (c)(3)(ii)(B) of this section, and the individual is licensed by the State as an audiologist to furnish audiology services.

(ii) In the case of an individual who furnishes audiology services in a State that does not license audiologists, or an individual exempted from State licensure based on practice in a specific institution or setting, the individual must meet one of the following conditions:

(A) Have a Certificate of Clinical Competence in Audiology granted by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

(B) Have successfully completed a minimum of 350 clock-hours of supervised clinical practicum (or is in the process of accumulating that supervised clinical experience under the supervision of a qualified master or doctoral-level audiologist); performed at least 9 months of full-time audiology services under the supervision of a qualified master or doctoral-level audiologist after obtaining a master's or doctoral degree in audiology, or a related field; and successfully completed a national examination in audiology approved by the Secretary.

[43 FR 45224, Sept. 29, 1978, as amended at 45 FR 24888, Apr. 11, 1980; 56 FR 8854, Mar. 1, 1991; 60 FR 19861, Apr. 21, 1995; 69 FR 30587, May 28, 2004; 77 FR 29031, May 16, 2012; 82 FR 4578, Jan. 13, 2017]