CLEAR

Florida case considers best practice vs minimum standard of care; allows webcast testimony of expert witness

In Department of Health, Board of Psychology v. Netta Shaked, Case No. 11-5995PL, Florida's Division of Administrative Hearings ruled that a marital therapist did not fail to meet the minimum standards of performance by terminating her professional relationship with clients via e-mail. The judgement states that the petitioner's expert witness failed to articulate "the minimum standard of performance against which Respondent's actions should be measured. Instead, Petitioner has attempted to hold Respondent to ... what "best practice" requires of a psychologist a termination context.... Indeed it is well settled that a healthcare provider does not depart from the standard of care  ... simply because the "best practice" was not followed. The same case included a successful application by the Respondent to allow an Expert Witness to testify via webcast.

Ontario College of Trades undertakes membership fees consultation

The Ontario College of Trades is inviting participation in a membership fees consultation, with a deadline for views from stakeholders of June 3, 2012. According to Ron Johnson, College governors’ board chair, “We want to get an idea from apprentices, journeypersons, and employers alike on what their expectations are and to use that information to develop a membership fee structure that can be lived with by everybody in the trades.” Proposed fees range from $50 to $600 per annum, depending on whether the registrant is an apprentice, journeyperson, tradesworker or employer/sponsor. When operational, the College will regulate more than 150 trades, with a likely registrant population of 400,000 to 600,000 members.

UK Parliamentary Committee calls for regulation of health care assistants

The United Kingdom Parliament's Health Select Committee has called for the regulation of health care assistants, saying "independent professional regulation of this group of staff provides the best assurance to patients." The report's recommendations face opposition from the government, which prefers a system of voluntary registration for health care assistants.  

Education, training and workforce planning - first report

Conclusions and recommendations.

AANP launches national campaign, to raise awareness of nurse practitioners and call for increased scope of practice

The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners has launched a national campaign to increase awareness of the role played by nurse practitioners (NPs) in the U.S. health care system. The campaign states that the 155,000 nurse practitioners will be critical in managing increased demand with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. The Act is expected to increase the number of insured Americans by 32 million from 2014 onwards. The campaign calls for an increased scope of practice for Nurse Practitioners in 34 states that require supervision by a physician for NPs issuing prescriptions and undertaking diagnostic tests.

Campaign letter

Awareness campaign.

Utah launches upgraded disciplinary database for state's licensed professionals

Utah's Department of Occupational and Professional Licensing has launched an upgraded disciplinary database for the state's licensed professionals. Prior to the upgrade, information was limited to a "yes" or "no" concerning disciplinary action taken against a professional. The database, which contains records from 2005 onwards, now contains explanations about any disciplinary action taken, as well as details of non-disciplinary orders taken against licensees.

Utah Agency and Disciplinary Action Database.

Philippines legislation would require continuing professional education as condition for renewal

House Bill 6039, also known as the "Continuing Professional Education Act of 2011", has been filed in the Philippines. The bill would require the country's professionals to complete continuing professional education (CPE) as a condition of licensure renewal by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC). The bill would create a CPE Council for each regulated profession, which would be overseen by the relevant regulatory board, and consist of a chairperson and two members. Councils would consider applications for accreditation, and establish the number of CPE credit units to be earned for each activity.

Nevada governor signs executive order providing reciprocity for military spouses

Nevada Governor Brian Sandova has signed Executive Order 2012-11, which will, effective immediately,:

• Facilitate endorsement of a current license from another state as long as the requirements for licensure in that jurisdiction are substantially equivalent to the requirements in Nevada; and
• Where possible, provide for a temporary or provisional license allowing a military spouse to practice while fulfilling requirements needed to qualify for endorsement in this state, or while awaiting verification of documentation supporting such an endorsement; and
• Expedite application procedures for a military spouse, including where possible the approval of a license based on an affidavit from the applicant that the information provided on the application is true and that verifying documentation has been requested.

Where statutory requirements prevent these actions, the respective board leadership is to inform the Governor’s office in writing of the suggested legislative changes that would be required to secure reciprocity.

Press release.

North Carolina engineering board agrees MOU with Bahamian equivalent, facilitating national exam candidacies

The North Carolina Board of Examiners for Engineers and Surveyors has agreed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Bahamas Professional Engineers Board that will allow Bahamian engineers to sit for the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) Professional Engineer exam when it is offered in the state. Michael Moss, Chairman of the Bahamas Professional Engineers Board said "The North Carolina Board recently amended their Statute to allow applicants with foreign experience to be considered for licensure. This allowed the North Carolina Board to consider the request from the Bahamas Board. As a consequence, Bahamian Engineers, through application to the Bahamas Board, will be allowed to sit the NCEES licensure examination administered by the North Carolina Board. This is the first time the North Carolina Board has entered
into this type of relationship and as such truly makes it an historical accomplishment."

Study measures licensing "burden" across the U.S., focuses on low and moderate-income occupations

The Institute of Justice, a Virginia-based libertarian law firm, has produced a new report, License to Work: A National Study of Burdens from Occupational Licensing, which it describes as "the first national study to measure how burdensome occupational licensing laws are for lower-income workers and aspiring entrepreneurs". The report focuses on licensing requirements for more than 100 occupations across the U.S., and concludes "on average, these licenses force aspiring workers to spend nine months in education or training, pass one exam and pay more than $200 in fees.  One third of the licenses take more than a year to earn.  At least one exam is required for 79 of the occupations." The report's executive summary suggests interior design is the most difficult of the occupations studied to enter, that Louisiana licenses the largest percentage of these occupations ,that the average licensing requirements are highest in Hawaii and lowest in Pennsylvania, and that Arizona and California are the "most widely and onerously licensed states."

License to Work: A National Study of Burdens from Occupational Licensing.

Executive Summary.

South Carolina HHS data breach prompts audit, renewed focus on security

South Carolina's Department of Health and Human Services recently suffered a major data breach, involving the transfer of 228,435 Medicaid beneficiaries' personal data to an employee's private email account and at least one other party. A three-week independent audit of the agency's security procedures and technology will begin shortly, but for now sister agency, the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, is reportedly preventing employees from accessing their personal e-mail accounts from the agency, and has disabled access to all computer USB ports.

Department of Health and Human Services press release.