SB 819

Bill Subjects

Abstract

(1) Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of various professions and vocations by boards and bureaus within the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law requires certain boards and bureaus to disclose on the Internet information on licensees. This bill would require the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau to disclose on the Internet information on specified licensees. (2) Under existing law, if, upon investigation, any of a list of specified state regulatory agencies has probable cause to believe that a person is advertising in a telephone directory with respect to the offering or performance of services, without being properly licensed by or registered with that agency, the agency is authorized to issue a specified citation. This bill would add the Physical Therapy Board of California to those authorized agencies. Existing law requires specified healing arts boards to report to the State Department of Health Care Services the name and license number of a person whose license has been revoked, suspended, surrendered, made inactive, or otherwise restricted, and requires specified healing arts boards to create and maintain a central file of the names of all persons who hold a license from the board, and to prescribe and promulgate written complaint forms, as specified. This bill would also subject the California Board of Occupational Therapy to these requirements, and would subject the Acupuncture Board to the requirement to create and maintain a central file of the names of its licensees and to prescribe and promulgate written complaint forms, as specified. (3) Existing law, the Dental Practice Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of registered dental hygienists, registered dental hygienists in alternative practice, registered dental hygienists in extended functions, and registered dental assistants, among others. Existing law authorizes a person holding a license as a registered dental hygienist, registered dental hygienist in alternative practice, or registered dental hygienist in extended functions as of July 1, 2009, to perform the duties of a registered dental assistant, and requires persons issued one of those licenses on or after July 1, 2009, to also receive a registered dental assistant license before performing the duties of a registered dental assistant. This bill would instead authorize a person holding a license as a registered dental hygienist, registered dental hygienist in alternative practice, or registered dental hygienist in extended functions as of December 31, 2005, to perform the duties of a registered dental assistant, and would require persons issued one of those licenses on or after January 1, 2006, to also receive a registered dental assistant license before performing the duties of a registered dental assistant. (4) Existing law, the Medical Practice Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of physicians and surgeons by the Medical Board of California. The act requires each applicant for a physician and surgeon's license to meet specified training and examinations requirements, authorizes the appointment of examination commissioners, requires that examinations be conducted in English, except as specified, allows the examinations to be conducted in specified locations, requires notice of examinations to contain certain information, and requires examination records to be kept on file for a period of 2 years or more. The act authorizes a person whose certificate has been surrendered, revoked, suspended, or placed on probation, as specified, to petition for reinstatement of the certificate or modification of the penalty if specified requirements are met. Under existing law, any person who meets certain eligibility requirements, including, but not limited to, the requirement that the person is academically eminent, as defined, may apply for a special faculty permit that authorizes the holder to practice medicine, without a physician's and surgeon's certificate, within the medical school itself and certain affiliated institutions. This bill would revise the training requirements for a physician and surgeon's license, and would delete the requirement of passage of a clinical competency examination that is applicable to certain applicants. The bill would delete the provisions related to the appointment of examination commissioners, examinations being conducted in English and examination interpreters, the location of examinations, and examination notices. The bill would also delete the requirement that the board keep examination records on file for at least 2 years, and would instead require the board to keep state examination records on file until June 2070. The bill would revise the requirements for a petition for reinstatement or modification, as specified. The bill would require the holder of a special faculty permit to meet the same continuing medical education requirements as the holder of a physician's and surgeon's certificate and would also require a special faculty permitholder to show that he or she meets these requirements at the time of permit renewal. Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of podiatrists by the Board of Podiatric Medicine in the Medical Board of California. Existing law authorizes the Board of Podiatric Medicine to issue an order of nonadoption of a proposed decision or interim order of the Medical Quality Hearing Panel within 90 calendar days. Existing law requires an applicant for a certificate to practice podiatric medicine to meet specified application procedures. This bill would instead authorize the Board of Podiatric Medicine to issue an order of nonadoption of a proposed decision or interim order of the Medical Quality Hearing Panel within 100 calendar days. The bill would revise the application procedures for a certificate to practice podiatric medicine, as specified. (5) Existing law, the Occupational Therapy Practice Act, provides for the licensure of occupational therapists and the certification of occupational therapy assistants by the California Board of Occupational Therapy. Existing law requires an occupational therapist to document his or her evaluation, goals, treatment plan, and summary of treatment in the patient record. Existing law authorizes a limited permit to practice occupational therapy to be granted if specified education and examination requirements are met, but provides that if the person fails to qualify for or pass the first announced licensure examination, all limited permit privileges automatically cease upon due notice. Existing law requires an applicant applying for a license or certification to file with the board a written application provided by and satisfactory to the board, showing that he or she meets certain requirements, including, but not limited to, successful completion of an educational program's academic requirements approved by the board and accredited by the American Occupational Therapy Association's Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) and successful completion of a period of supervised fieldwork experience. Existing law also specifies the curriculum requirements for an education program for occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants. This bill would require an occupational therapy assistant to document in the patient record the services provided to the patient, and would require an occupational therapist or assistant to document and sign the patient record legibly. The bill would revise the provisions related to limited permit privileges to instead provide that a person's failure to pass the licensure examination during the initial eligibility period would cause the privileges to automatically cease upon due notice. The bill would require that the applicant successfully complete the educational program's academic requirements approved by the board and accredited by ACOTE, or accredited or approved by the American Occupational Therapy Association's (AOTA) predecessor organization, or approved by AOTA's Career Mobility Program. The bill would also revise those curriculum requirements for an educational program. The bill would authorize an applicant who is a graduate of an educational program and is unable to provide evidence of having met the curriculum requirements to demonstrate passage of a specified examination as evidence of having successfully satisfied the curriculum requirements. The bill would require an applicant who completed AOTA's Career Mobility Program to demonstrate participation in the program and passage of a specified examination as evidence of having successfully satisfied the educational program and curriculum requirements. The bill would revise the supervised fieldwork experience requirement. The bill would require a licensee to report to the board violations of the Occupational Therapy Practice Act by licensees or applicants for licensure and to cooperate with the board, as specified. (6) Existing law, the Nursing Practice Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of nurses by the Board of Registered Nursing. Existing law authorizes a registered nurse whose license is revoked or suspended, or who is placed on probation, to petition for reinstatement of his or her license or modification of the penalty after a specified time period. This bill would require a petition by a registered nurse whose initial license application is subject to a disciplinary decision to be filed after a specified time period from the date upon which his or her initial license was issued. Existing law provides for the certification and regulation of nurse practitioners and nurse-midwives by the Board of Registered Nursing and specifies requirements for qualification or certification as a nurse practitioner. Under the act, the practice of nursing is defined, in part, as providing direct and indirect patient care services, as specified, including the dispensing of drugs or devices under specified circumstances. The practice of nursing is also described as the implementation, based on observed abnormalities, of standardized procedures, defined as policies and protocols developed by specified facilities in collaboration with administrators and health professionals, including physicians and surgeons and nurses. This bill would authorize the implementation of standardized procedures that would expand the duties of a nurse practitioner in the scope of his or her practice, as enumerated. The bill would make specified findings and declarations in that regard. (7) Existing law, the Physician Assistant Practice Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of physician's assistants by the Physician Assistant Committee of the Medical Board of California. Existing law authorizes the committee to grant interim approval to an applicant for licensure as a physician assistant. This bill would delete that authority to grant interim approval and would make conforming changes. (8) Existing law, the Naturopathic Doctors Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of naturopathic doctors by the Bureau of Naturopathic Medicine. Existing law requires licensees to obtain continuing education through specified continuing education courses. Existing law requires a licensee on inactive status to meet certain requirements in order to restore his or her license to active status, including paying a reactivation fee. This bill would revise the standards for continuing education courses. The bill would delete the requirement that a licensee on inactive status pay a reactivation fee in order to restore his or her license to active status, and would instead require him or her to be current with all licensing fees. (9) Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of respiratory care practitioners by the Respiratory Care Board of California. Existing law authorizes the board to direct a practitioner or applicant who is found to have violated the law to pay a sum not to exceed the costs of investigation and prosecution. This bill would also authorize the board to direct a practitioner or applicant who is found to have violated a term or condition of board probation to pay a sum not to exceed the costs for investigation and prosecution. Existing law exempts certain healing arts practitioners from liability for specified services rendered during a state of war, state of emergency, or local emergency. This bill would also exempt respiratory care practitioners from liability for the provision of specified services rendered during a state of war, state of emergency, or local emergency. (10) Existing law, the Pharmacy Law, the knowing violation of which is a crime, provides for the licensure and regulation of pharmacists and pharmacies by the California State Board of Pharmacy. Existing law authorizes a pharmacy to furnish dangerous drugs only to specified persons or entities, and subjects certain pharmacies and persons who violate the provision to specified fines. This bill would provide that any violation of this provision by any person or entity would subject the person to the fine. Existing law prohibits a person from acting as a wholesaler of any dangerous drug or device without a license from the board. Existing law requires a nonresident wholesaler, as defined, to be licensed prior to shipping, mailing, or delivering dangerous drugs or dangerous devices to a site located in this state. This bill would modify that definition and would also require a nonresident wholesaler to be licensed prior to selling, brokering, or distributing dangerous drugs or devices within this state. By subjecting these nonresident wholesalers to these licensure requirements which include, among other things, payment of specified fees, the bill would increase that part of the revenue in the Pharmacy Board Contingent Fund that is continuously appropriated and would thereby make an appropriation. Existing law requires a pharmacy or pharmacist who is in charge of or manages a pharmacy to notify the board within 30 days of termination of employment of the pharmacist-in-charge or acting as manager, and provides that a violation of this provision is grounds for disciplinary action. This bill would instead provide that failure by a pharmacist-in-charge or a pharmacy to notify the board in writing that the pharmacist-in-charge has ceased to act as pharmacist-in-charge within 30 days constitutes grounds for disciplinary action, and would also provide that the operation of the pharmacy for more than 30 days without supervision or management by a pharmacist-in-charge constitutes grounds for disciplinary action. The bill would revise the definition of a designated representative or designated representative-in-charge, and would define a pharmacist-in-charge. Existing law makes a nonpharmacist owner of a pharmacy who commits acts that would subvert or tend to subvert the efforts of a pharmacist-in-charge to comply with the Pharmacy Law guilty of a misdemeanor. This bill would apply this provision to any pharmacy owner. The bill would require the board, during a declared federal, state, or local emergency, to allow for the employment of a mobile pharmacy in impacted areas under specified conditions, and would authorize the board to allow the temporary use of a mobile pharmacy when a pharmacy is destroyed or damaged under specified conditions. The bill would require the board, if a pharmacy fails to provide documentation substantiating continuing education requirements as part of a board investigation or audit, to cancel an active pharmacy license and issue an inactive pharmacy license, and would allow a pharmacy to reobtain an active pharmacy license if it meets specified requirements. Because this bill would impose new requirements and prohibitions under the Pharmacy Law, the knowing violation of which would be a crime, it would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires pharmacies to provide information regarding certain controlled substances prescriptions to the Department of Justice on a weekly basis. This bill would also require a clinic to provide this information to the Department of Justice on a weekly basis. (11) Existing law, the Veterinary Medicine Practice Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of veterinarians by the Veterinary Medical Board. Existing law prohibits the disclosure of information about an animal receiving veterinary services, the client responsible for that animal, or the veterinary care provided to an animal, except under specified circumstances, including, but not limited to, as may be required to ensure compliance with any federal, state, county, or city law or regulation. This bill would specify that such disclosure is prohibited except as may be required to ensure compliance with the California Public Records Act. (12) Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of educational psychologists, clinical social workers, and marriage and family therapists by the Board of Behavioral Sciences. Existing law generally provides for a system of citations and fines that are applicable to healing arts licensees. This bill would prohibit the board from publishing on the Internet final determinations of a citation and fine of $1,500 or less for more than 5 years from the date of issuance of the citation. (13) Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of accountants by the California Board of Accountancy in the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law requires an applicant for the certified public accountant license to comply with certain education, examination, and experience requirements under one of 2 provisions that set forth different standards, commonly referred to as the 2 "pathways." Existing law, under the first pathway, requires completion of a baccalaureate or higher degree conferred by a college or university with completion of at least 24 semester units in accounting and 24 semester units in business related subjects, board exam passage, and 2 years of qualifying experience. Existing law, under the 2nd pathway, imposes the same educational and examination requirements as the first pathway, but also requires proof of completion of at least 150 semester units, and instead accepts one year of qualifying experience. This bill would make the first pathway inoperative as of January 1, 2014, except in certain circumstances, and would, on and after that date, with respect to the second pathway, require the 150 units to include 10 units of ethics study, as defined, and 20 units of accounting study, as defined. The bill would create the Advisory Committee on Accounting Ethics Curriculum within the jurisdiction of the board to be composed of 11 members, as specified, and would require the committee to, on or before January 1, 2012, recommend guidelines for the ethics study requirement to the board. The bill would require the board to adopt those recommendations by January 31, 2013, and would also require the board to adopt guidelines for the accounting study requirement by January 1, 2012, as specified. The bill would also require the board to, by September 1, 2010, hold a hearing on a specified report by the California Research Bureau and to, at the hearing, make recommendations on ensuring the relevancy of accountancy education to the modern practice of accounting, as specified. The bill would enact other related provisions. Existing law allows an out-of-state accountant to engage in the practice of accountancy in this state without obtaining a certificate or license if the individual has practiced for at least 4 of the last 10 years, the individual is licensed in another state deemed substantially equivalent to this state under the 2nd pathway, or the individual's qualifications are determined to be substantially equivalent to this state's qualifications under the 2nd pathway. Existing law provides for the repeal of these provisions on January 1, 2011. This bill would delete the January 1, 2011, repeal date for those provisions, thereby making them operative indefinitely. (14) Existing law, the Professional Fiduciaries Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of professional fiduciaries by the Professional Fiduciaries Bureau until July 1, 2011. Existing law also requires applicants to provide certain boards and bureaus with a full set of fingerprints for the purpose of conducting criminal history record checks. Existing law requires licensees to file and the bureau to maintain certain information in each licensee's file, including whether the licensee has ever been removed as a fiduciary by a court for breach of trust committed intentionally, with gross negligence, in bad faith, or with reckless indifference, or demonstrated a pattern of negligent conduct, as specified. This bill would require the bureau to disclose on the Internet information on its licensees and would require applicants to the bureau to comply with that fingerprint requirement. The bill would require licensees to file and the bureau to maintain information regarding whether the licensee has ever been removed for cause or resigned as a conservator, guardian, trustee, or personal representative, as well as various other details relating to that removal or resignation. The bill would also make a conforming change. (15) Existing law provides a comprehensive scheme for the certification and regulation of interior designers. Under existing law, a stamp from an interior design organization certifies that an interior designer has passed a specified examination and that he or she has met certain other education or experience requirements, such as a combination of interior design education and diversified interior design experience that together total at least 8 years. This bill would revise that provision by specifying that an interior designer may meet these requirements by having at least 8 years of interior design education, or at least 8 years of diversified interior design experience, or a combination of interior design education and diversified interior design experience that together total at least 8 years. (16) Existing law provides for the registration of professional engineers and the licensure of land surveyors by the Board for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors. Under existing law, in determining the qualifications of an applicant for registration or licensure, a majority vote of the board is required. This bill would delete that majority vote requirement. (17) Existing law, the Funeral Directors and Embalmers Law, provides for the licensure and regulation of funeral establishments and directors by the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau. Under existing law, every funeral establishment holding a funeral director's license on December 31, 1996, shall, upon application and payment of fees for renewal, be issued a funeral establishment license. This bill would delete that provision. (18) Existing law creates the Transcript Reimbursement Fund, with revenues in the fund to be available to provide shorthand reporting services to low-income litigants in civil cases. Existing law requires all unencumbered funds remaining in the Transcript Reimbursement Fund as of June 29, 2009, to be transferred to the Court Reporters' Fund, and repeals these provisions on January 1, 2011. This bill would instead provide for the transfer of those unencumbered funds on January 1, 2011. (19) Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, pursuant to which medical benefits are provided to public assistance recipients and certain other low-income persons. Existing law provides that federally qualified health center services and rural health clinic services, as defined, are covered benefits under the Medi-Cal program, to be reimbursed, to the extent that federal financial participation is obtained, to providers on a per-visit basis. For those purposes, a "visit" is defined as a face-to-face encounter between a patient of a federally qualified health center or a rural health clinic and a "physician," which is defined to include a medical doctor, osteopath, podiatrist, dentist, optometrist, and chiropractor. This bill would instead provide that the term "physician" includes a physician and surgeon, podiatrist, dentist, optometrist, and chiropractor. (20) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Sections 27 and 146 of the Business and Professions Code, proposed by AB 48, to be operative only if AB 48 and this bill are both chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2010, and this bill is chaptered last. The bill would incorporate additional changes to Sections 101 and 149 of the Business and Professions Code, proposed by AB 20 of the 2009–10 Fourth Extraordinary Session, AB 48, and AB 1535, to be operative only if this bill and one, two, or all three other bills are chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2010, and this bill is chaptered last. The bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 800 of the Business and Professions Code, proposed by SB 820, to be operative only if both bills are both chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2010, and this bill is chaptered last. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Sections 2570.5, 2570.6, 2570.7, and 7616 of the Business and Professions Code proposed by both this bill and SB 821, to be operative only if SB 821 and this bill are both chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2010, and this bill is chaptered last. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Sections 3635 and 3636 of the Business and Professions Code proposed by both this bill and AB 20 of the 2009–10 Fourth Extraordinary Session, to be operative only if AB 20 of the 2009–10 Fourth Extraordinary Session and this bill are both chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2010, and this bill is chaptered last. The bill would incorporate additional changes to Sections 4040 and 4076 of the Business and Professions Code, proposed by SB 470, to be operative only if SB 470 and this bill are both chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2010, and this bill is chaptered last. The bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 4110 of the Business and Professions Code, proposed by AB 1071, to be operative only if AB 1071 and this bill are both chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2010, and this bill is chaptered last. (21) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.