{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-218a.175","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 218A.175","heading":"Pain management facilities -- Physician ownership required -- Additional","body":"activities permitted to qualifying facilities -- Certification requirements --\nPayment for services rendered or goods provided -- Compliance with section as\nadditional licensure condition -- Penalty for violation.\n(1) (a) As used in this section, \"pain management facility\" means a facility where the\nmajority of patients of the practitioners at the facility are provided treatment\nfor pain that includes the use of controlled substances and:\n1. The facility's primary practice component is the treatment of pain; or\n2. The facility advertises in any medium for any type of pain management\nservices.\n(b) \"Pain management facility\" does not include the following:\n1. A hospital, includ ing a critical access hospital, as defined in KRS\nChapter 216, a facility owned by the hospital, or the office of a hospital -\nemployed physician;\n2. A school, college, university, or other educational institution or program\nto the extent that it provides in struction to individuals preparing to\npractice as physicians, podiatrists, dentists, nurses, physician assistants,\noptometrists, or veterinarians;\n3. A hospice program or residential hospice facility licensed under KRS\nChapter 216B;\n4. An ambulatory surgical center licensed under KRS Chapter 216B; or\n5. A long-term-care facility as defined in KRS 216.510.\n(2) (a) Only a physician having a full and active license to practice medicine issued\nunder KRS Chapter 311 shall have an ownership or investment interest  in a\npain management facility. Credit extended by a financial institution as defined\nin KRS 136.500 to the facility shall not be deemed an investment interest\nunder this subsection. This ownership or investment requirement shall not be\nenforced against any pain management facility existing and operating on April\n24, 2012, unless there is an administrative sanction or criminal conviction\nrelating to controlled substances imposed on the facility, any person employed\nby the facility, or any person working at the facility as an independent\ncontractor for an act or omission done within the scope of the facility's\nlicensure or the person's employment.\n(b) A facility qualifying for the exemption permitted by paragraph (a) of this\nsubsection whose ownership has bee n continuously held jointly and\nexclusively by practitioners having full and active licenses to practice in\nKentucky since April 24, 2012, may, after June 24, 2015:\n1. Open and operate no more than two (2) additional facilities in locations\nother than those locations existing and operating on April 24, 2012;\n2. Transfer whole or partial ownership between existing practitioner\nowners;\n3. Transfer whole or partial ownership interests to new owners if the new\nowners are physicians having full and active licenses to practice in\nKentucky and the facility notifies the cabinet of the transfer thirty (30)\ndays before it occurs; and\n4. Pass the ow nership interest of a deceased former owner through that\nperson's estate to a physician having a full and active license to practice\nin Kentucky without disqualifying the facility's grandfathered status\nunder this subsection if the facility notifies the ca binet of the transfer\nthirty (30) days before it occurs in cases where the interest is being\ntransferred to a physician who is not an existing owner in the facility.\n(3) Regardless of the form of facility ownership, beginning on July 20, 2012, at least\none (1) of the owners or an owner's designee who is a physician employed by and\nunder the supervision of the owner shall be physically present practicing medicine\nin the facility for at least fifty percent (50%) of the time that patients are present in\nthe facility, and that physician owner or designee shall:\n(a) Hold a current subspecialty certification in pain management by a member\nboard of the American Board of Medical Specialties, or hold a current\ncertificate of added qualification in pain management by the American\nOsteopathic Association Bureau of Osteopathic Specialists;\n(b) Hold a current subspecialty certification in hospice and palliative medicine by\na member board of the American Board of Medical Specialties, or hold a\ncurrent certificate of added qualification in hospice and palliative medicine by\nthe American Osteopathic Association Bureau of Osteopathic Specialists;\n(c) Hold a current board certification by the American Board of Pain Medicine;\n(d) Hold a current board certification by the America n Board of Interventional\nPain Physicians;\n(e) Have completed a fellowship in pain management or an accredited residency\nprogram that included a rotation of at least five (5) months in pain\nmanagement; or\n(f) If the facility is operating under a registrati on filed with the Kentucky Board\nof Medical Licensure, have completed or hold, or be making reasonable\nprogress toward completing or holding, a certification or training substantially\nequivalent to the certifications or training specified in this subsectio n, as\nauthorized by the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure by administrative\nregulation.\n(4) A pain management facility shall accept private health insurance as one (1) of the\nfacility's allowable forms of payment for goods or services provided and shall\naccept payment for services rendered or goods provided to a patient only from the\npatient or the patient's insurer, guarantor, spouse, parent, guardian, or legal\ncustodian.\n(5) If the pain management facility is operating under a license issued by the cabi net,\nthe cabinet shall include and enforce the provisions of this section as additional\nconditions of that licensure. If the pain management facility is operating as the\nprivate office or clinic of a physician under KRS 216B.020(2), the Kentucky Board\nof Medical Licensure shall enforce the provisions of this section. The provisions of\nthis subsection shall not apply to the investigation or enforcement of criminal\nliability.\n(6) Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a Clas s A\nmisdemeanor.","path":["KRS Chapter 218A"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=44313","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:52:30Z","sha256":"ddca513c557b6b03b822e0b949c45f78c097df8d27b41a3c52a889d3f7c82cce","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-218a.172","next":"us-ky/krs-218a.180"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}