(a)
Any business entity that employs, or contracts or subcontracts, directly or indirectly, with, the full-time equivalent of five or more persons functioning as health care professionals, whose primary function is to provide telephone medical advice, that provides telephone medical advice services to a patient at a California address shall be registered with the Telephone Medical Advice Services Bureau.
(b)
A medical group that operates in multiple locations in California shall not be required to register pursuant to this section if no more than five full-time equivalent persons at any one location perform telephone medical advice services and those persons limit the telephone medical advice services to patients being treated at that location.
(c)
Protection of the public shall be the highest priority for the bureau in exercising its registration, regulatory, and disciplinary functions. Whenever the protection of the public is inconsistent with other interests sought to be promoted, the protection of the public shall be paramount.