General Assembly>Division of Legislative Services>Publications>Session Summaries>2003>Professions and Occupations

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Professions and Occupations

Passed

P HB1441

Health regulatory boards; disciplinary procedures and reporting requirements. Lowers the disciplinary standard for persons licensed by the Boards of Medicine and Physical Therapy from gross negligence to simple negligence. The bill creates a confidential consent agreement that may be used by a health regulatory board (board), in lieu of discipline, only in cases involving minor misconduct where there is little or no injury to a patient or the public and little likelihood of repetition by the practitioner. A board shall not be able to use the confidential consent agreement if it believes there is probable cause to believe the practitioner has (i) demonstrated gross negligence or intentional misconduct in the care of patients or (ii) conducted his practice in a manner as to be a danger to patients or the public. Such agreement will include findings of fact and may include an admission or a finding of a violation. Such agreement may be used by a board in future disciplinary proceedings. The bill provides that before reinstatement to practice, a three-year minimum period must elapse after the revocation of the certificate, registration or license of any person regulated by one of the boards; however, individuals who have had their licenses revoked by a health regulatory board are grandfathered and subject to provisions concerning reinstatement in effect prior to July 1, 2003. Existing reporting requirements by hospitals, health care institutions, health professionals and others concerning disciplinary actions, certain disorders, malpractice judgments, and settlements are clarified concerning timing for the reports and the information required to be reported to the Board of Medicine. Civil penalties for failure to report are increased up to a maximum of $25,000 for hospitals and health care institutions and $5,000 for all others. Certification, registration and licensure are conditioned upon the payment of such penalties. The confidentiality of the reported information is clarified. In addition, the Department of Health Professions' biennial reporting requirements on disciplinary actions by each of the health regulatory boards is clarified. The Department is given increased authority to regulate unlicensed practice and is directed to investigate all complaints within the jurisdiction of the relevant health regulatory board. This bill is identical to SB 1334.
Patron - Sears

P HB1706

Board of Medicine's guidelines for ethical practice in the performance of surgery and other invasive procedures by interns and residents. Broadens the Board of Medicine's responsibility for developing guidelines for ethical practice of physicians practicing in emergency rooms, and surgeons, interns and residents practicing in hospitals. This provision adds the Medical Society of Virginia and the Virginia Hospital and Health Care Association to Virginia's medical schools as cooperating parties in the development of these guidelines. The enhanced guidelines address: (i) obtaining informed consent from patients or the next of kin or the legally authorized representative, when the patient is incapable of making an informed decision after the consenting party has been informed as to which physicians, residents, or interns will perform the surgery or other invasive procedure; (ii) the presence of an attending physician during the surgery except in an emergency or other unavoidable situation; (iii) policies to avoid situations in which one person represents that he will perform a surgery or other invasive procedure and then fails to do so; and (iv) policies addressing informed consent and the ethics of appropriate care of patients in the emergency room. Such policies must take into consideration the nonbinding ban developed by the American Medical Association in 2000 on using newly dead patients as training subjects without the consent of the next of kin or other legal representative.
Patron - Purkey

P HB1749

Board for Contractors; application affidavits. Removes the requirement for applicants to notarize their applications for licensure. The purpose behind the bill is move to on-line acceptance of applications through My Virginia PIN.
Patron - Suit

P HB1792

Defaults on certain educational loans; health care professional and occupational license suspension. Authorizes an obligee to petition the relevant health regulatory board for the suspension of any state-issued license, certificate, registration or other authorization to engage in a health care profession when an obligor is delinquent or in default in the payment of a federal or state guaranteed educational loan or work-conditional scholarship. Thirty days' notice must be given prior to filing the petition. The relevant health regulatory board will order the suspension of the license, certificate, registration or other authorization to engage in the practice of a health profession, when appropriate. The relevant health regulatory board may order reinstatement of the license upon compliance with payment terms by the obligor.
Patron - Tata

P HB1820

Information concerning health professionals; posting of home addresses on the Internet. Mandates that, in order to protect the privacy and security of health professionals, every health regulatory board posting addresses of record for regulated persons to the on-line licensure lookup or any successor in interest thereof on the Internet shall only disclose the city or county provided to the Department of Health Professionals and shall not include any street, rural delivery route or post-office address. However, the street address of facilities regulated by the Boards of Funeral Directors and Embalmers, Nursing, Pharmacy, and Veterinary Medicare shall be posted.
Patron - Morgan

P HB1824

Health professions; pharmacy technicians. Extends from six months to one year after the promulgation of regulations the date pharmacy technicians must register with the Board of Pharmacy. Regulations are scheduled to be adopted by July 1, 2003.
Patron - Morgan

P HB1825

Health professions; pharmacy and the schedule of drugs. Adds dichloralphenazone to Schedule IV and reschedules buprenorphine from Schedule V to Schedule III to conform to recent changes in federal regulation, and to correct and conform the categories of drugs in Schedule III to those in federal regulation by moving nalorphine from the "depressants," which is an incorrect category for this drug, and placing it into its own category.
Patron - Morgan

P HB1870

Transfer or copies of patient records upon the sale or relocation of a practice. Requires practitioners who are relocating a professional practice to notify the patient at his last known address and by newspaper publication of such relocation. Present law requires this notice in the case of a sale of a practice. The notice must also disclose the charges, if any, that will be billed by the practitioner for providing the patient copies of his records. The charges for retrieval, copying, and mailing medical records set forth in § 8.01-413 shall not apply to requests for medical records because of a sale or relocation of a professional practice. This bill is identical to SB 799.
Patron - O'Bannon

P HB1871

Health professions; multistate nursing compact. Authorizes Virginia's membership in a multistate nursing compact that provides the structure for the reciprocal recognition of other states' licenses to practice as a registered nurse or a licensed practical nurse. The compact also provides for each state's autonomy in setting licensure standards for the persons licensed in their home state as well as in disciplinary proceedings. The bill would provide for a data collection system and increased interaction between party states to help in health care management as well as to provide an effective screening tool for persons who are changing residence and wish to practice nursing in a state that is a party to the Compact. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2005.
Patron - O'Bannon

P HB1899

Schools of optometry; enrollment funding. Provides by an uncodified act that, at such time as the General Assembly may provide funding to support enrollments of Virginia students in accredited schools of optometry, such funding shall be allocated first to support enrollments of such students at accredited schools of optometry in the Commonwealth.
Patron - Stump

P HB1900

Health professions; practice of dentistry. Clarifies that the all-volunteer, nonprofit organizations providing donated services by dentists and dental hygienists who are not licensed in the Commonwealth may have paid employees and do not have to meet the criteria of providing services "throughout the world." The bill contains an emergency provision.
Patron - Stump

P HB1933

Physical therapist assistants; supervision. Authorizes a physical therapist assistant to perform his duties solely under the direction and control of a licensed physical therapist. Current law requires that a physical therapist assistant perform his duties under the direction and control of both a licensed physical therapist and the patient's physician.
Patron - Nixon

P HB1934

Physical therapists; administration of controlled substances. Authorizes a physical therapist to possess and administer topical controlled substances pursuant to an oral or written order or standing protocol issued by a prescriber.
Patron - Nixon

P HB1941

Board of Barbers and Cosmetology; regulation of hair braiders. Provides for a separate category of licensure for individuals wishing to perform hair-braiding services only. The bill also permits licensed cosmetologists to perform hair braiding without a separate license; exempts from licensure any braider working in a licensed cosmetology salon under the direct supervision of a licensed cosmetologist; and includes a waiver of examination for individuals who apply in the first year and have at least three years of documented work experience, completed a training program satisfactory to the Board, or have a certificate or license as a hair braider from another jurisdiction.
Patron - Drake

P HB2125

Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers; inspection of crematories. Authorizes the Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers to inspect both registered crematories and crematories licensed as a funeral service establishment. Currently, a crematory offering services directly to the public must be licensed as a funeral service establishment and is subject to inspections and disciplinary sanction by the Board. This bill clarifies that registered crematories (those providing services only to a funeral home) must be registered and are subject to inspection and disciplinary sanctions for operating in a manner that may endanger the public health, safety or welfare.
Patron - Reid

P HB2182

Health practitioner contact information for a public health emergency. Grants the Department of Health Professions (Department) the authority to require certain health practitioners to report any E-mail address, telephone number and facsimile number that may be used to contact them in the event of a public health emergency. Such E-mail addresses, telephone numbers and facsimile numbers shall not be published, released or made available for any other purpose. The Director of the Department shall adopt emergency regulations to identify who must report and the procedures for reporting.
Patron - O'Bannon

P HB2204

Pharmacists' compounding of drug products. Revises the requirements for compounding of drugs by pharmacists. This bill provides, among other matters, clear parameters for permitted pharmacies in Virginia to engage in the compounding of drug products. The bill includes (i) definitions of "bulk drug substance," and "compounding," and modifications to other Drug Control Act definitions; (ii) clarification that pharmacists may compound pursuant to valid prescriptions or in anticipation of valid prescriptions according to historical prescribing patterns; (iii) labeling requirements for compounded drugs, both those drugs dispensed pursuant to single prescriptions and those drugs compounded in anticipation of receiving valid prescriptions; (iv) restrictions on distribution that clarify that pharmacists cannot distribute to other pharmacies or commercial entities but may deliver compounded products to alternative delivery locations and provide compounded products to practitioners to administer to their patients in the course of their professional practice; (v) requirements for performance and supervision of the compounding process; (vi) a requirement for a policy and procedure manual when the levels of compounding are associated with higher risk for contamination or radiopharmaceuticals or dosage forms that are dose-critical or specialized preparations, such as slow-release products or transdermal patches; (vii) rules for the use of bulk drug substances in compounding; (viii) restrictions on the compounding of drugs that have been removed from the market by the FDA or found to be unsafe and on the compounding of large amounts of any drug product that are essentially copies of commercially available; and (ix) strict recordkeeping criteria. Physicians who are permitted to dispense or who engage in compounding must also comply with the requirements. Permitted pharmacies will not be required to obtain licenses as wholesale distributors if the wholesale distributions do not exceed five percent of the gross annual sales of the pharmacy or the wholesale distributions of Schedules II through V controlled substances do not exceed five percent of the total dosage units of such substances dispensed annually by the pharmacy.
Patron - Jones, S.C.

P HB2205

Health professions; physician assistant prescriptive authority. Adds Schedule III controlled substances to the list of those substances that a licensed physician assistant may prescribe pursuant to regulations by the Board. Physician assistants currently may prescribe drugs from Schedules V and VI and Schedule IV, effective January 1, 2003. Nurse Practitioners already have this authority.
Patron - Jones, S.C.

P HB2206

Health professions; pharmacy. Provides that when a drug is dispensed in a hospital by a chart order, the pharmacist dispensing the drug does not have to indicate on the label the name of the prescriber by whom the prescription was written.
Patron - Jones, S.C.

P HB2221

Health professions; acupuncture. Clarifies that the Advisory Board on Acupuncture does not advise the Board of Medicine on matters relating to regulation of doctors of medicine, osteopathy, chiropractic, or podiatry who are qualified to practice acupuncture.
Patron - Shuler

P HB2301

Licensure and other regulatory requirements of certain persons in the medical and healing arts. Authorizes certain registered nurse agents of the Virginia Health Department to order tests of sputum for tubercle bacilli from the Division of Consolidated Laboratories.
Patron - Devolites

P HB2414

Board for Contractors; prohibited acts. Clarifies that no person shall be entitled to assert the lack of licensure or certification as a defense to any action at law or suit in equity if the party who seeks to recover from such person gives substantial performance within the terms of the contract in good faith and without actual knowledge that a license or certificate was required to perform the work for which he seeks to recover payment.
Patron - Marrs

P HB2415

Board for contractors; prohibited acts by awarding authorities. Clarifies that receiving or considering as the awarding authority a bid from anyone whom the awarding authority knows is not properly licensed or certified is prohibited.
Patron - Marrs

P HB2418

Preneed funeral contracts through irrevocable trusts. Clarifies that preneed funeral contracts executed through an irrevocable trust are not revocable and, therefore, qualify as a resource exclusion under Medicaid or other federal or state needs-based assistance programs. The bill creates an exception to the law that preneed funeral contracts shall be subject to termination if a person establishes an irrevocable burial trust, or an amount in an irrevocable trust that is specifically identified as available for burial expenses, where (i) a person irrevocably contracts for funeral goods and services, such person funds the contract by prepaying for the goods and service, and the funeral provider residing or doing business within the Commonwealth subsequently places the funds in a trust; or (ii) a person establishes an irrevocable trust naming the funeral provider as the beneficiary; however, such person shall have the right to change the beneficiary to another funeral provider. This bill is identical to SB 1261.
Patron - Nixon

P HB2477

Registered nurses; delegation to conduct physical examinations of children. Provides an exemption to the medical practice act authorizing physicians of medicine and osteopathy or nurse practitioners to delegate to registered nurses under their supervision the authority to screen and test children for elevated blood-lead levels when such tests are conducted in accordance with a written protocol between the physician or nurse practitioner and the registered nurse and in compliance with the Board of Health's regulations promulgated pursuant to §§ 32.1-46.1 and 32.1-46.2. Any follow-up testing must be done at the direction of a physician or a nurse practitioner. This bill is a recommendation of the Joint Subcommittee Studying Lead Poisoning Prevention. In other states where this delegation is authorized, the elevated blood-lead screening is more effectively implemented. In addition, the screening may cost less than when conducted by a physician.
Patron - Crittenden

P HB2605

Dialysis Patient Care Technicians. Establishes the requirement for certification from an organization approved by the Board of Health Professions for a person to use the titles "dialysis patient care technician" or "dialysis care technician." Unregulated persons performing services relating to the technical elements of dialysis, such as equipment maintenance and preparation of dialysers for reuse by the same patient, will not be affected. The Board of Health Professions is charged with approving programs examining candidates for appropriate competency or technical proficiency to perform as dialysis patient care technicians or dialysis care technicians for state certification. Individuals who are currently employed as dialysis care technicians and are administering medications in the ordinary course of their duties in Medicare-certified renal dialysis facilities and have satisfactorily completed a training program in accordance with the Core Curriculum for Dialysis Technician, also known as the Amgen Core Curriculum, or a comparable education and training curriculum, are grandfathered and will be in compliance with the new certification requirement. Other national training and testing programs appear to be available for the Board of Health Professions to approve, including several programs that are recognized by the National Association of Nephrology Technicians/Technologists.
Patron - Bryant

P HB2610

Foreign medical school graduates' requirements for admission to examination and licensure by the Board of Medicine. Reduces the required postgraduate training in a hospital for certain foreign medical school graduates from three years to two years of such training. This provision also authorizes the foreign medical school graduates to sit for a medical licensing examination at any time during the required postgraduate training. Reportedly, the Virginia Board of Medicine's three-year requirement is among the most stringent in the country.
Patron - Bryant

P HB2651

Health professions; licensing. Provides an exemption from the requirement that an applicant for a license, certificate or other registration to practice a health profession provide a social security number or control number for those foreign nationals who are otherwise qualified but who cannot provide a social security number or control number at the time of application. The temporary license or authorization to practice shall be effective for no longer than 90 days. The bill has an emergency effective date.
Patron - Cox

P HB2723

Real Estate Board; continuing education for licensees. Increases the continuing education requirements for real estate licensees of the Real Estate Board from eight to 16 hours. The bill requires new licensees to complete 30 hours of specialized training in the first two years of licensure. The bill also requires that a portion of the continuing education hours occur in a classroom setting and not by correspondence or distance learning. The bill contains technical amendments.
Patron - Reid

P HB2759

Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation; soil scientists. Clarifies that the waiver of the examination for certification as a soil scientist ends on July 1, 2004, for those individuals with 10 years of experience.
Patron - Rust

P HB2808

Regulation of pawnshops, etc.; records of secondhand goods; penalty. Grants the authority to counties to regulate, among other things, the sale of property at auction; and the conduct of and prescribe the number of pawnshops and dealers in secondhand goods, wares and merchandise. Currently this authority is given only to cities. The bill also requires pawnbrokers to keep records of items purchased by them.
Patron - Rapp

P HB2812

Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation; regulation of polygraph examiners. Provides for the Director of the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation to authorize the use by licensed polygraph examiners of instruments other than polygraphs that record physiological changes pertinent to the determination of truthfulness or the verification of the truth of statements. This bill is identical to SB 1296.
Patron - Cosgrove

P HB2833

Athletic trainer certification; protective taping. Exempts from the athletic trainer certification requirements the application of protective taping to an uninjured body part by any coach, physical education instructor or other person. Currently, these individuals may also conduct or assist with exercise or conditioning programs or classes within the scope of their duties as employees or volunteers without such certification.
Patron - Reid

P SB761

Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation; Auctioneers Board. Prohibits the use of advertisements containing false, misleading, or deceptive statements, with respect to types or conditions of merchandise offered at auction, why merchandise is being sold, who has ownership, where the merchandise was obtained, or the terms and conditions of the auction and sale. The bill also provides that if an auctioneer advertises an auction sale of real property as "absolute," all lots included in the sale must meet that criteria. "Absolute auction" is defined as an auction where at the time of the auction sale the real or personal property to be sold will pass to the highest bidder regardless of the amount of the highest and last bid.
Patron - Wampler

P SB799

P SB920

Health regulatory board investigations. Requires the executive officer and the chief of staff of every hospital or other health care institution to report to the Board of Medicine within 30 days the knowledge of any health impairment that may render a health professional a danger to himself, the public or his patients; any unethical, fraudulent or unprofessional conduct; any disciplinary action taken by the hospital or other health care institution; and any voluntary resignation from the staff. The hospitals and other health care institutions must make such reports within 30 days, except that reports concerning the commitment or admission of a health professional as a patient shall continue to be made within five days of when the chief administrative officer learns of the commitment or admission. Any person who fails to make a required report will be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $25,000, as assessed by the Director of the Department of Health Professions, and to denial of licensure or certification unless the penalty has been paid.
Patron - Byrne

P SB1090

Dental hygienists' possession and administration of certain topical drugs. Provides that, pursuant to a written order and in accordance with a standing protocol issued by the dentist in the course of his professional practice, a dentist may authorize a dental hygienist under his general supervision to possess and administer topical oral fluorides, topical oral anesthetics, topical and directly applied antimicrobial agents for treatment of periodontal pocket lesions, as well as any other Schedule VI topical drug approved by the Board of Dentistry. "General supervision" is defined as requiring the dentist to evaluate and prescribe the services but not to require the dentist to be present when the services are delivered. Currently, dentists may "cause" Schedule VI topical drugs to be administered under their "direction and supervision" by a dental hygienist or other authorized agent, i.e., when the dentist is present.
Patron - Bolling

P SB1102

Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation; creation of Fair Housing Board. Creates the Fair Housing Board at the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation to administer and enforce the provisions of the Fair Housing Law. Currently, such authority is vested with the Real Estate Board. The bill sets out the membership and terms of the Fair Housing Board. The bill authorizes the Fair Housing Board to establish, by regulation, an education-based certification or registration program, as the Board deems appropriate. The Fair Housing Board has no authority to discipline persons licensed by the Real Estate Board who violate the Fair Housing Law, this authority will remain with the Real Estate Board. The bill contains technical amendments.
Patron - Mims

P SB1261

P SB1293

Professions and occupations; prior criminal history. Enumerates criteria a regulatory board must use to determine whether a person may be denied a professional license based on a prior criminal conviction. The bill also authorizes the regulatory board or department to request of applicants information and identifiers to perform a national and state criminal records check.
Patron - Maxwell

P SB1296

Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation; Polygraph Examiners. Provides for the Director of the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation to authorize the use by licensed polygraph examiners of instruments other than polygraphs that record physiological changes pertinent to the determination of truthfulness or the verification of the truth of statements. This bill is identical to HB 2812.
Patron - Blevins

P SB1324

Real Estate Board; continuing education for licensees. Increases the continuing education requirements for real estate licensees of the Real Estate Board from eight to 16 hours. The bill requires new licensees to complete 30 hours of specialized training in the first two years of licensure. The bill also authorizes the Board to establish procedures to ensure the quality of the courses. This bill contains technical amendments and is identical to HB 2723.
Patron - Bolling

P SB1327

Limited licenses to certain graduates of foreign medical schools. Authorizes the Board of Medicine to issue a limited license to practice medicine to a person of professorial rank whose knowledge and special training will benefit a medical school or college or their affiliated hospitals. The foreign medical school graduate can only practice in the hospitals and outpatient clinics or affiliated hospitals for the length of his service as a full-time or adjunct faculty member. The limited licenses for faculty members may be renewed annually upon the recommendation of the dean of the medical school and the continued service of the relevant person as full-time or adjunct faculty. Present law authorizes the foreign graduates serving on medical school faculties to serve only in the hospitals and clinics of the medical school as full-time faculty members.
Patron - Howell

P SB1329

Board of Accountancy; powers. Amends several Code provisions relating to the Board of Accountancy. The bill provides for the Board to establish regulations requiring continuing professional education in ethics and to maintain a list of consultants to assist in investigations and to provide expert testimony in disciplinary proceedings. The bill (i) increases the maximum penalty that may be imposed for a regulatory violation from $2,500 to $100,000, (ii) requires a certified public accountant practicing in the Commonwealth under substantial equivalency to have an unrestricted license in the state of licensure, and (iii) changes the reporting year for continuing profession education from July 1 through June 30 to January 1 through December 31 for certain transition rules. A second enactment clause authorizing the promulgation of emergency regulations is also included.
Patron - Stosch

P SB1334

Health regulatory boards; disciplinary procedures and reporting requirements. Lowers the disciplinary standard for persons licensed by the Boards of Medicine and Physical Therapy from gross negligence to simple negligence. The bill creates a confidential consent agreement that may be used by a health regulatory board (board), in lieu of discipline, in cases involving minor misconduct where there is little or no injury to a patient or the public and little likelihood of repetition by the practitioner. A board shall not be able to use the confidential consent agreement if it believes there is probable cause to believe the practitioner has (i) demonstrated gross negligence or intentional misconduct in the care of patients or (ii) conducted his practice in a manner as to be a danger to patients or the public. Such agreements will include findings of fact and may include an admission or a finding of a violation. Such agreements may be used by a board in future disciplinary proceedings. The bill provides that before reinstatement to practice, a three-year minimum period must elapse after the revocation of the certificate, registration or license of any person regulated by one of the boards; however, individuals who have had their licenses revoked by a health regulatory board are grandfathered and subject to provisions concerning reinstatement in effect prior to July 1, 2003. Existing reporting requirements by hospitals, health care institutions, health professionals and others concerning disciplinary actions, certain disorders, malpractice judgments, and settlements are clarified concerning timing for the reports, mandated reporters and the information required to be reported to the Board of Medicine. The bill excludes from reporting by hospitals and health care institutions certain health professional misconduct if it has been reported to a peer review panel. Civil penalties for failure to report are increased up to a maximum of $25,000 for hospitals and health care institutions and $5,000 for all others. Certification, registration and licensure are conditioned upon the payment of such penalties. The confidentiality of the reported information is clarified. In addition, the Department of Health Professions' biennial reporting requirements on disciplinary actions by each of the health regulatory boards is clarified. The Department is given increased authority to regulate unlicensed practice and is directed to investigate all complaints within the jurisdiction of the relevant health regulatory board. Finally, the bill requires the executive committee of the Board of Medicine to include at least two citizen members. This bill is identical to HB 1441.
Patron - Bolling

Failed

F HB1499

Notification to parents of certain health services to minors. Requires, notwithstanding other law to the contrary and unless prohibited by federal law or regulation, any state or local government agency employee who provides services to a minor, for which such minor is deemed an adult for purposes of consent, to notify, within two business days of delivery of such services, a custodial parent, legal guardian or other person standing in loco parentis of any service and any reason, condition or diagnosis requiring such service when the service relates to sexually transmitted diseases, the provision of emergency contraception, pregnancy, illegal drug use, and the contemplation of suicide. The employee is required to provide notice in person or by telephone, or if those attempts are unsuccessful, by certified mail to the authorized person; however, notification shall not apply when the employee has knowledge that such notification would result in future physical or mental abuse.
Patron - Lingamfelter

F HB1515

Rules of the Supreme Court regarding IOLTA (Interest on Lawyer's Trust Account) and CRESPA (Consumer Real Estate Settlement Protection Act) accounts. Requires the Supreme Court to prescribe rules allowing attorneys or law firms to designate charities to which the interest or dividends from IOLTA and CRESPA accounts shall be paid according to the same procedures and requirements established for the transmission of interest or dividends to the Legal Services Corporation of Virginia.
Patron - Albo

F HB1547

Minors' abortions; penalty. Provides, notwithstanding the provisions of § 16.1-241, that, in the event an unemancipated minor who does not have a life-threatening medical condition receives an abortion for which no parent, legal guardian or other person standing in loco parentis has given consent and complications resulting from the abortion require additional medical treatment for which a parent, legal guardian or other person standing in loco parentis is obligated to pay, if the practitioner who performed the abortion without such parental consent fails to treat the complications or to fund treatment provided by another practitioner, he will be guilty of a Class 6 felony.
Patron - Marshall, R.G.

F HB1675

Information concerning health professionals; posting of home addresses on the Internet. Mandates that, in order to protect the privacy and security of health professionals, every health regulatory board posting addresses of record for regulated persons to the on-line licensure lookup or the physician profile on the Internet shall provide every regulated person with the option of having his home, business or other address posted as his address of record or having his address of record omitted from such posting. Health regulatory boards may continue to require regulated persons to submit their current home and business addresses; however, in any case in which a regulated person states in writing that his home address is not to be disclosed on the Internet, another address must be posted as his address of record as designated by the regulated person or his address of record shall be omitted from the Internet posting.
Patron - Petersen

F HB1895

Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, Certified Interior Designers and Landscape Architects; right-of-entry for land surveyor. Provides a land surveyor and agents and employees under his direct supervision with a right-of-entry onto the property of another for the purpose of surveying the location of property corners, boundary lines, rights-or-way and easements. The bill also provides for injunctive relief in instances where access to the property has been denied.
Patron - Stump

F HB1960

Health professions; practice of midwifery. Provides for the licensure by the Board of Medicine of those persons who have obtained the Certified Professional Midwife credential to practice midwifery. Licensed midwives must disclose to clients certain background information, training and experience, malpractice or liability insurance coverage, and procedures to file complaints with the Board. Licensed midwives are not required to have any agreement or assessment of the potential client by another health care professional. This bill would leave in place current midwifery practice as governed by the Board of Health.
Patron - Hamilton

F HB2060

Board of Veterinary Medicine; animal medical care facility disclosure forms. Requires certain animal medical care facilities, in each instance that an animal has been left for overnight medical observation, to provide a disclosure form specifying the regular staffing hours of the facility and the hours and days when continuous medical care is not available at the facility. The disclosure form must be kept on file at the facility and updated if there are any subsequent overnight observations of the same animal.
Patron - Callahan

F HB2413

Practice of law; definition for corporate counsel, etc. Defines the practice of law as including furnishing of legal advice or legal services to an employer as in-house counsel, corporate counsel, general counsel, etc. Such employee is required under this bill to associate himself with the Virginia State Bar by either: (i) active membership; or (ii) registering for a corporate counsel certificate with the Virginia State Bar, paying an annual registration fee, and certifying that he is familiar with the Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct, and agreeing to be subject to the disciplinary jurisdiction of the Virginia State Bar.
Patron - Marrs

F HB2417

Health professions; guidance documents. Requires the Director of the Department of Health Professions to publish, or cause to be published, law, regulation and guidance documents governing each healthcare profession for reference by practitioners. Documents will include topical areas such as unlicensed practice, requirements for licensure, standards of practice, delegation, continued competency requirements, facility requirements, and other areas determined by the Director.
Patron - Welch

F HB2494

Health professions; treatment of breast cancer. Requires any physician providing treatment for a diagnosis of breast cancer to provide to the patient, either orally or in writing, a complete description of all alternative treatments, including lumpectomy, and the relative benefits of each treatment prior to determining the course of treatment for that patient.
Patron - Bolvin

F SB871

Health regulatory boards; disciplinary procedures and reporting requirements. Lowers the disciplinary standard for persons licensed by the Board of Medicine from gross negligence to simple negligence. The bill creates a confidential consent agreement that may be used by a health regulatory board (board), in lieu of discipline, in cases involving minor misconduct where there is little or no injury to a patient or the public. A board shall not be able to use the confidential consent agreement if it believes there is probable cause to believe the practitioner has (i) demonstrated gross negligence or intentional misconduct in the care of patients or (ii) conducted his practice in a manner as to be a danger to patients or the public. Such agreements will include findings of fact and may include an admission or a finding of a violation. Such agreements may be used by a board in future disciplinary proceedings. The bill provides that before reinstatement to practice, a three-year minimum period must elapse after the revocation of the certificate, registration or license of any person regulated by one of the boards; however, individuals who have had their licenses revoked by a health regulatory board are grandfathered and subject to provisions concerning reinstatement in effect prior to July 1, 2003. Existing reporting requirements by hospitals, health care institutions, health professionals and others concerning disciplinary actions, certain disorders, malpractice judgments, and settlements are clarified concerning timing for the reports, mandated reporters and the information required to be reported to the Board of Medicine. The bill excludes from reporting by hospitals and health care institutions certain health professional misconduct if it has been reported to a peer review panel. Civil penalties for failure to report are a minimum of $1,000 and are increased up to a maximum of $25,000 for hospitals and health institutions and $5,000 for all others. Certification, registration and licensure are conditioned upon the payment of such penalties. The confidentiality of the reported information is clarified. In addition, the Department of Health Professions' biennial reporting requirements on disciplinary actions by each of the health regulatory boards is clarified. Finally, the Director is required to investigate all complaints within the jurisdiction of the relevant health regulatory board and reports received.
Patron - Deeds

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General Assembly>Division of Legislative Services>Publications>Session Summaries>2003>Professions and Occupations

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