HB6231 Summary

• Expands the definition of "licensed athletic trainer" to include work under physician direction, prescription, or collaboration (not just team physicians) and allows use of emergency care and physical medicine techniques for prevention, clinical diagnosis, therapeutic intervention, rehabilitation, and reconditioning.

• Changes "referral" definition to mean guidance by a physician who maintains supervision of "the individual" rather than specifically "athletes," broadening the scope of athletic trainer practice.

• Defines "physician" to include both medical doctors and chiropractic physicians licensed in Illinois.

• Removes specific duties list (A-J) previously required for athletic trainers and eliminates multiple credential abbreviations that could only be used by licensed practitioners, keeping only "A.T.", "A.T.C.", and "certified athletic trainer" or "licensed athletic trainer" as permitted titles.

• Changes grounds for discipline to reference "abandonment of the individual under care" instead of "abandonment of an athlete," aligning with the expanded scope of practice.