Utah Legislature 2013 General Session

Posted about 11 years ago by Wendy Rusin

UNP Legislative Committee

SB 147 S1, Sen. Mayne, WORKERS' COMPENSATION AND OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AMENDMENTS, Substitute SB 147 amended SB 147 to appropriately name nurse practitioners and advanced practice registered nurses as entities who can be billed through workers’ compensation. Language in the original bill listed nurse practitioners as “physician extenders.” This language was amended to eliminate the physician extender language. Passed Senate, introduced in the House.

SB 214, Sen. Jones, CONTINUING EDUCATION FOR PRESCRIPTION DRUGS, requires certain controlled substance prescribers to complete at least four hours of continuing education as a requisite for license renewal; requires that at least 3.5 hours of the required continuing education hours be completed in controlled substance prescribing classes; establishes criteria for controlled substance prescribing classes recognized by the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing (DOPL); directs DOPL to consult with other applicable departments and associations when determining whether classes for controlled substance prescribers with a specific license type meet established criteria; grants rulemaking authority to DOPL, In Senate Business and Labor Committee.

SB 42, Rep. Valentine, Medical School Admissions Funding, This bill authorizes the University of Utah School of Medicine to increase the number of students admitted by 40 students for a total of 122 students annually; and restricts the 40 additional admissions to students who demonstrate a strong connection to Utah, (but no guarantee they will go into primary care), Passed Senate, introduced in House.

SB 203, Rep. Jones, Prescription Label Information and Education Amendments, This bill directs DOPL to offer information on the DOPL pharmacy website encouraging prescribers, pharmacists, and pharmacy interns to include information relating to the condition the prescription is meant to treat on certain prescription drug labels; and directs prescribers to encourage pharmacists and pharmacy interns to include information relating to the condition the prescription is meant to treat on certain prescription drug labels, In Senate Health and Human Services Committee.

HB 109, Rep. Dee, Anesthesia Assistant Amendments, This bill creates a new licensing chapter in the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing for Anesthesiologist Assistants. We believe this puts patient safety at risk and may put CRNA's out of business, In House Health and Human Services Committee.

HB 56, Rep. Menlove, Behavioral Health Care Workforce Amendments, This bill amends the Mental Health Professional Practice Act and Psychologist Licensing Act to allow mental health therapists and substance use disorder counselors to engage in mental health therapy or substance use disorder counseling via Internet, telephone, or other electronic means, to allow mental health therapists and substance abuse therapists licensed in other jurisdictions to provide short term transitional care to clients relocating to Utah, and to allow for the remote training and supervision of mental health professionals and substance use disorder counselors via electronic means. Passed House and Senate.

HB 244, Rep. Redd, Mental Health Professional Practice Act Amendments, amends the definition of "Mental Health Therapist" in the Mental Health Professional Practice Act and the Psychologist Licensing Act to include those working as an "advanced practice registered nurse intern, specializing in psychiatric mental health nursing"; and under the Psychologist Licensing Act to make it consistent with the definition in the Mental Health Professional Practice Act; grants rulemaking authority to the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing to determine whether an applicant for a license as a substance use disorder counselor has met educational requirements, to the House third reading calendar.

HB 51, Rep. Dunnigan, Professional Licensing Revisions, amongst many other things this bill modifies the supervision required for medical assistants from "direct and immediate" to "indirect supervision" and repeals the statute creating the Controlled Substance Precursor Advisory Board, Passed House and Senate.

HB 135 S1, Rep. Sanpei, Medical Malpractice Amendments, This bill provides that a certificate of compliance must be issued for a health care provider or health care entity to allocate fault in a pre-litigation medical malpractice or arbitration hearing; and requires that evidence from a medical review panel remain unreportable to a health care facility or health insurance plan. On House third reading calendar.

HB 141, Rep. Kennedy, Medicaid Emergency Room and Primary Care Amendments, This bill clarifies the authority of an accountable care organization that administers a plan for

Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program to audit a provider for delivering nonemergent care in an emergency room; permits an accountable care organization to establish a differential payment for nonemergent care delivered in an emergency room; requires the accountable care organization to use savings from reductions of inappropriate emergency room use to improve enrollee's access to primary care and urgent care; requires the Department of Health to develop quality measures for the appropriate use of emergency rooms and access to primary care, and to compare the accountable care organizations based on the quality measures; and directs the Department of Health to apply for waivers to the Medicaid program and the Children's Health Insurance Program to: impose higher copayments on a recipient who seeks nonemergent care in an emergency room; and allow the Medicaid program and the Children's Health Insurance Program to development an algorithm to determine assignment of new recipients to the accountable care organization plans that have the better quality measure ratings, In House Health and Human Services committee.

HB 269, Rep Ray, Training of School Nurses, This bill modifies Title 26, Chapter 53, Protection of Athletes with Head Injuries Act, and Title 53A, Chapter 6, Educator Licensing and Professional Practices Act, by clarifying the requirements of a school nurse engaged in treating a student who sustains a concussion or traumatic head injury. This bill permits a school nurse to assess a child who sustains a concussion or a traumatic head injury during school hours on school property; and prohibits a school nurse from providing a written statement permitting the child to return to free play or physical education class after sustaining a concussion or a traumatic head injury unless the nurse has been trained in the evaluation and management of a head injury, Passed House and Senate.

HB 52, Rep. Ray, Controlled Substances Revisions, This bill adds new "spice" and "bath salts" analogs to the list of unscheduled controlled substances, Passed House and Senate.

HB 120, Rep. Ray, Information on Pharmaceutical Products, This bill creates standards for providing educational information to health care providers about prescription drugs and devices expands the application of federal regulations that apply to a pharmaceutical manufacturer's drug representatives to other health care providers who make educational statements about a prescription drug or device; creates certain exceptions to the application of the federal regulations; and makes it unprofessional conduct to violate the federal regulations. In House Health and Human Services Committee.

HB 270, S2, Rep. Menlove, Prescription Drug Database Access Amendments, This bill allows the director of the Utah Department of Health to allow access to the controlled substance database to designated individuals conducting scientific studies regarding the use or abuse of controlled substances, if: the designee adheres to rules set by the Department of Health and federal regulations covering the use of protected health information; and the identities of prescribers, patients, and pharmacies in the database are de-identified in accordance with HIPAA rules, kept confidential, and not disclosed to the designee or individuals not associated with the scientific studies, Passed House and Senate.

HB 48, Rep. Redd, Medical Reserve Corps Amendments, This bill authorizes the local health departments to train health care professionals who volunteer as medical reserve corps during public health emergencies and disasters and amends the Healthcare Providers Immunity from Liability Act to provide liability protections to the medical reserve corps who are training to respond to public health emergencies or disasters, Passed House and Senate.

HB 13, Rep. Arent, Protection of Children Riding in Motor Vehicles, This bill modifies the Motor Vehicles Code by enacting a restriction on smoking in a motor vehicle when a child is present. Passed House, introduced in Senate.

HR 81 S2, Rep. Menlove, Cytomegalovirus Public Health Initiative, This bill amends the Utah Health Code and directs the Department of Health to establish a public education program regarding the impacts and dangers of congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection and the methods of prevention of CMV infection, Senate third reading calendar.

There are still some interesting bills in progress that have yet to be assigned a number. We’ll continue to monitor these. Please contact me with any questions or concerns especially if it concerns a bill I don’t have listed above.

Don’t forget NURSE PRACTITIONER DAY AT THE LEGISLATURE Wednesday, March 6, 2013. Hear from your NP and Legislative leaders from 1030-1130 in the Olmstead Room in the Senate (East) Building then come to the Capitol Rotunda from 1200-1400 to inform the Legislators, staffers and public about NPs and our issues.