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2017 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Education and Health
Subcommittee Health Professions

Dunnavant (Chairman), Suetterlein, Carrico, Barker, Lucas, Peake

Clerk: Patty Lung, Rhonda Johnson
Staff: Thomas Stevens
Date of Meeting: February 7, 2017
Time and Place: 8:30 a.m. - 4th Floor East

H.B. 1474

Patron: Orrock

Dental hygiene; remote supervision. Eliminates the requirement that a dental hygienist providing dental hygiene services under remote supervision be employed by the supervising dentist; clarifies continuing education requirements for dental hygienists practicing under remote supervision; eliminates the requirement for written permission to treat a patient from a dentist who has treated the patient in the previous 12 months; and allows a dental hygienist practicing under remote supervision to treat a patient who provides verbal confirmation that he does not have a dentist of record whom he is seeing regularly. The bill eliminates the requirement that a dental hygienist practicing under remote supervision consult with the supervising dentist prior to providing further dental hygiene services if the patient is medically compromised or has periodontal disease and allows a dental hygienist practicing under remote supervision to provide further dental hygiene services in accordance with a written practice protocol developed and provided by the supervising dentist, which shall consider, at minimum, the medical complexity of the patient and the presenting signs and symptoms of oral disease. The bill requires a supervising dentist who conducts the examination of the patient or refers the patient to another dentist for examination following the 90-day period during which a dental hygienist is permitted to provide dental hygiene services under remote supervision to develop a diagnosis and treatment plan for the patient.

H.B. 1484

Patron: Bell, Richard P.

Board of Medicine to amend regulations governing licensure of occupational therapists to specify Type 1 continuous learning activities. Directs the Board of Medicine to amend regulations governing licensure of occupational therapists to provide that Type 1 continuing learning activities that shall be completed by the practitioner prior to renewal of a license shall consist of an organized program of study, classroom experience, or similar educational experience that is related to a licensee's current or anticipated roles and responsibilities in occupational therapy and approved or provided by one of the following organizations or any of its components: the Virginia Occupational Therapy Association; the American Occupational Therapy Association; the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy; a local, state, or federal government agency; a regionally accredited college or university; or a health care organization accredited by a national accrediting organization granted authority by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to assure compliance with Medicare conditions of participation. Such regulations shall also provide that Type 1 continuing learning activities may also include an American Medical Association Category 1 Continuing Medical Education program. The bill further provides that the Board of Medicine shall not deem maintenance of any certification provided by such organization as sufficient to fulfill continuing learning requirements for occupational therapists.

H.B. 1541

Patron: Robinson

Board of Nursing; powers and duties. Authorizes the Board of Nursing to deny or withdraw approval from training programs for failure to meet prescribed standards. Under current law, the Board has such power for educational programs.

H.B. 1688

Patron: Villanueva

Practice of chiropractic; certain medical evaluations. Provides that the practice of chiropractic medicine shall include performing the physical examination of an application for a commercial driver's license or commerciallearner's permit if the practitioner has (i) applied for and received a certificate as a medical examiner from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in accordance with 49 C.F.R. Part 390, Subpart D and (ii) registered with the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners. The bill also provides that it shall be unprofessional conduct for any person to perform the services of a medical examiner as defined in 49 C.F.R. § 390.5 if, at the time such services are performed, the person performing such services is not listed on the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners or fails to meet the requirements for continuing to be listed on the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners.

H.B. 1750

Patron: O'Bannon

Dispensing of naloxone; patient-specific order not required. Provides that a pharmacist may dispense naloxone in the absence of a patient-specific prescription pursuant to a standing order issued by the Commissioner of Health authorizing the dispensing of naloxone or other opioid antagonist used for overdose reversal in the absence of an oral or written order for a specific patient issued by a prescriber and in accordance with protocols developed by the Board of Pharmacy in consultation with the Board of Medicine and the Department of Health.

H.B. 1777

Patron: Stolle

Hospitals providing psychiatric services; denials of admission. Requires the Board of Health to promulgate regulations that require each hospital that provides inpatient psychiatric services to establish a protocol that (i) requires, for any refusal to admit a medically stable patient referred to its psychiatric unit, direct verbal communication between the on-call physician in the psychiatric unit and the referring physician, if requested by the referring physician, and (ii) prohibits on-call physicians or other hospital staff from refusing a request for such direct verbal communication by a referring physician.

H.B. 2153

Patron: Rasoul

Durable Do Not Resuscitate Orders; reciprocity. Provides that a Durable Do Not Resuscitate order or other order regarding life-sustaining treatment executed in accordance with the laws of another state in which such order was executed shall be deemed to be valid and shall be given full effect in the Commonwealth.

H.B. 2164

Patron: Pillion

Drugs of concern; gabapentin. Adds any material, compound, mixture, or preparation containing any quantity of gabapentin, including any of its salts, to the list of drugs of concern. This bill contains an emergency clause. 

EMERGENCY

H.B. 2301

Patron: O'Bannon

Licensed practical nurses; administration of vaccinations. Removes the requirement that the supervision of licensed practical nurses administering vaccinations by registered nurses be immediate and direct.