4E Relating to health occupations

ARTICLE 1 - BOARD OF SOCIAL WORK

"Minnesota Board of Social Work Practice Act", recodifying certain statutes and rules relating to social work; defining certain terms and the scope of practice; creating the board of social work, specifying membership requirements and duties, authorizing board adoption and enforcement of rules; requiring and providing for the licensing and regulation of social workers, graduate social workers, independent social workers and independent clinical social workers by the board, specifying certain qualification and examination requirements; providing for licensure by reciprocity and by endorsement; specifying certain criminal background check requirements; authorizing and providing for board issuance of temporary licenses under certain conditions; specifying certain exemptions from the licensure requirements; providing for license renewals; specifying certain requirements for qualification for inactive status, providing for reactivation; regulating voluntary license terminations and name and address changes; requiring and providing for board issuance of license wall certificates and license cards; specifying certain supervised practice and documentation requirements and certain requirements of supervisors; specifying certain continuing education and education providers approval requirements, authorizing certain variances to the continuing education requirements; prescribing certain license and continuing education provider fees, temporarily reducing certain license and renewal fees; specifying certain standards of practice and certain grounds for disciplinary action, primary professional responsibility to the client, prohibiting personal relationships or sexual conduct, regulating business relationships, requiring treatment and intervention services to be based on assessments or diagnoses; specifying certain recordkeeping requirements, providing for confidentiality; regulating the charging of fees and billing practices; specifying certain reporting requirements; granting the board certain investigative authority and regulating the types of actions allowed to be taken by the board, authorizing the issuance of cease and desist orders and providing for injunctive relief in the district court; providing for certain voluntary actions; regulating the use of titles and specifying certain reporting requirements; imposing a penalty for certain violations; making conforming amendments to certain statutory provisions relating to government data, access to health records, home care provider license and practicing medicine without a license exemptions, the health related licensing boards, mental health practice and medical assistance (MA) payments for mental health services, qualified professionals under the Minnesota family investment program (MFIP) and professional health services; repealing certain existing provisions and rules regulating the practice of social work

ARTICLE 2 - BOARD OF PHYSICAL THERAPY

Modifying certain provisions regulating physical therapists; defining physical therapist assistant, physical therapy aide, student physical therapist, student physical therapist assistant and supportive personnel; expanding assistant and aide supervision requirements to students and student assistants; authorizing and providing for cancellation of physical therapy licenses in good standing by the board of physical therapy under certain conditions, credentials under disciplinary orders and licenses for nonrenewal, fees paid to be nonrefundable; expanding certain conditions authorizing license denial, suspension or revocation by the board and authorizing board orders for mental or physical examination under certain conditions, providing for access to certain medical data and health records; authorizing board temporary suspension of licenses without a hearing under certain serious risk of harm conditions; repealing certain rules defining physical therapist assistant and physical therapy aide

ARTICLE 3 - BOARD OF PSYCHOLOGY

Modifying certain provisions providing for the licensing and regulation of psychologists; clarifying the definition of practice of psychology and certain board of psychology membership requirements; phasing out the licensure of psychological practitioners and providing for conversion to licensure as psychologists; modifying certain requirements for licensure for volunteer practice; authorizing nonresidents not seeking state licensure to serve as organizational consultants

ARTICLE 4 - BOARD OF DENTAL PRACTICE

Modifying certain provisions providing for the licensure of dental occupations; establishing a renewal requirement for limited faculty dentist licenses and extending the renewal period for full faculty licenses; prescribing certain licensure, registration, certification and inspection fees, prohibiting refund; authorizing dental hygienists to administer local anesthetic agents or nitrous oxide without supervision under a collaborative agreement with the licensed dentist

ARTICLE 5 - BOARD OF BEHAVORIAL THERAPY AND HEALTH (LICENSED PROFESSIONAL COUNSELORS AND ALCOHOL AND DRUG COUNSELORS)

Modifying certain provisions governing the licensing of licensed professional counselors (LPC) by the board of behavioral health and therapy; broadening certain general requirements for licensure qualification purposes; permitting postdegree completion of certain degree requirements for licensure under certain conditions; modifying certain continuing education requirements; temporarily exempting certain experienced counselors from certain degree requirements for licensing purposes; providing for certain retaliatory actions between states; expanding the grounds for disciplinary action; authorizing and providing for temporary suspension of licenses under certain conditions; authorizing the board to require submission to mental, physical or chemical dependency examinations or evaluations upon probable cause, failure to submit to constitute an admission of the allegations, exception, granting the board access to certain medical data and health records; providing for assessment tool security; modifying certain duties of the commissioner of health relating to licensure of alcohol and drug counselors and certain requirements for licensure; defining and providing for supervised postdegree professional practice, specifying certain supervised practice requirements for licensure; specifying certain conditions for board issuance of licenses without examination to certain other licensed or registered professionals and authorizing transitional licensing of certain additional certified chemical dependency counselors or practitioners; extending the transition period; increasing the temporary permit fee; authorizing the board to use the expedited rulemaking process to adopt and amend rules for conformity purposes; repealing the alcohol and drug counselors licensing advisory council and certain examination fees and certain rules providing for a cultural diversity committee and an education committee

ARTICLE 6 - BOARD OF MEDICAL PRACTICE (PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS AND RESPIRATORY CARE PRACTITIONERS)

Modifying certain provisions regulating physician assistants and respiratory care practitioners; modifying the frequency requirement for physician review of physician assistants, requiring outlining of the frequency in the internal protocol; modifying certain content requirements for prescriptions initiated by physician assistants; providing recognition of licensed or registered out of state respiratory care practitioners for the practice of respiratory therapy in emergency situations

ARTICLE 7 - COMMISSIONER OF HEALTH - AUDIOLOGISTS

Modifying certain provisions regulating audiologists as hearing aid dispensers; clarifying the definition of audiologist, defining hearing aid and hearing aid dispensing; prohibiting representation ad licensed hearing aid dispensers; specifying certain audiologist examination requirements; imposing a biennial surcharge fee, commissioner of health proration requirement; expanding grounds for disciplinary action; increasing the membership of the speech language pathologist and audiologist advisory council, providing for hearing instrument user representation; specifying certain requirements relating to the dispensing of hearing aids, specifying certain contract of sale content requirements and requiring the provision of certain consumer rights information to potential buyers; specifying certain restrictions on the sale of hearing instruments by audiologists or certified dispensers, requiring a guarantee and a buyers right to cancel; requiring itemized repair bills and regulating repair warranties, requiring written estimates on request; reducing the number of audiologists on the hearing instrument dispenser advisory council; making certain technical amendments; specifying certain reference change instructions to the revisor of statutes; repealing a certain written examination requirement exemption and certain replaced contract requirements and sales restrictions

ARTICLE 8 - OFFICE OF MENTAL HEALTH PRACTICES COMMITTEE

Modifying certain provisions relating to the office of mental health practice; clarifying the definition of unlicensed mental health practitioner, expanding the definition of mental health services and defining mental health related licensing boards; transferring regulatory authority over the office from the department of health to the boards, requiring the boards to convene an office of mental health practices committee to investigate complaints and enforce disciplinary actions and transferring certain duties from the office to and imposing certain additional duties on the committee, requiring a committee report to the legislature by a certain date evaluating the activity of the office and making recommendations relating to the regulation of unlicensed mental health practitioners; requiring legislation to continue the office and committee beyond a certain date; delaying the repeal of the office; specifying certain term insertion instructions to the revisor of statutes

ARTICLE 9 - MISCELLANEOUS

Establishing penalty fees for certain practice violations by credentialed speech language pathologists and audiologists, occupational therapists, alcohol and drug counselors and hearing instrument dispensers; modifying certain fee adjustment requirements of the health and nonhealth related licensing boards, authorizing health related licensing board anticipated expenditures in excess of anticipated revenues through use of accumulated surplus fee revenues, prohibiting the expenditure of more money than the amount appropriated by the legislature for a biennium; requiring the commissioner of finance to separately track health related licensing board revenues and expenditures in the health occupations licensing account; appropriating money to the administrative services unit of the board of nursing home administrators to pay for medical professional liability insurance coverage, requiring assessment of the boards of medical practice, nursing and dentistry apportioned amount equal to the amount expended on coverage purchased for the providers regulated by the boards

ARTICLE 10 - EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES REGULATORY BOARD

Modifying certain ambulance service regulatory provisions; expanding the
definition of volunteer ambulance attendant and adding Indian tribes to the
definition of licensee, defining tribe; suspending certain regulatory
requirements during certain emergencies; requiring completion of a board
approved application form for certain first responder or emergency medical technician (EMT) registration or certification purposes

ARTICLE 11 - GENERAL HEALTH CARE PROVIDER PROVISIONS

Authorizing the division of insurance fraud prevention in the department of commerce to consult with the appropriate health related licensing board in suspecting licensees of insurance fraud and requiring the division to send copies of public data relating to convictions to the appropriate board; specifying certain health care provider cost disclosure requirements, excepting nursing homes, hospitals and outpatient surgical centers; authorizing and providing for health care providers to provide care to patients at discounted payment amounts, prohibiting the discount from reducing the payment below the medicare approved payment level, authorizing charity care, prohibiting providers from charging uninsured persons more than health plan companies or other insurers; requiring health related licensing boards to establish directories of licensees; authorizing the boards to revoke, suspend, condition, limit, restrict or qualify licenses to practice in insurance fraud cases
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