(a) Any person or entity, acting on behalf of a health care profession that seeks to establish a new scope of practice or change a profession's scope of practice, may submit a written scope of practice request to the Department of Public Health not later than August fifteenth of the year preceding the commencement of the next regular session of the General Assembly.

(b) (1) Any written scope of practice request submitted to the Department of Public Health pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall include the following information:

(A) A plain language description of the request;

(B) Public health and safety benefits that the requestor believes will be achieved should the request be implemented and, if applicable, a description of any harm to public health and safety should the request not be implemented;

(C) The impact that the request will have on public access to health care;

(D) A brief summary of state or federal laws that govern the health care profession making the request;

(E) The state's current regulatory oversight of the health care profession making the request;

(F) All current education, training and examination requirements and any relevant certification requirements applicable to the health care profession making the request;

(G) A summary of known scope of practice changes either requested or enacted concerning the health care profession in the five-year period preceding the date of the request;

(H) The extent to which the request directly impacts existing relationships within the health care delivery system;

(I) The anticipated economic impact of the request on the health care delivery system;

(J) Regional and national trends concerning licensure of the health care profession making the request and a summary of relevant scope of practice provisions enacted in other states;

(K) Identification of any health care professions that can reasonably be anticipated to be directly impacted by the request, the nature of the impact and efforts made by the requestor to discuss the request with such health care professions; and

(L) A description of how the request relates to the health care profession's ability to practice to the full extent of the profession's education and training.

(2) In lieu of submitting a scope of practice request as described in subdivision (1) of this subsection, any person or entity acting on behalf of a health care profession may submit a request for an exemption from the processes described in this section and section 19a-16e. A request for exemption shall include a plain language description of the request and the reasons for the request for exemption, including, but not limited to: (A) Exigent circumstances which necessitate an immediate response to the scope of practice request, (B) the lack of any dispute concerning the scope of practice request, or (C) any outstanding issues among health care professions concerning the scope of practice request can easily be resolved. Such request for exemption shall be submitted to the Department of Public Health not later than August fifteenth of the year preceding the commencement of the next regular session of the General Assembly.

(c) In any year in which a scope of practice request is received pursuant to this section, not later than September fifteenth of the year preceding the commencement of the next regular session of the General Assembly, the Department of Public Health, within available appropriations, shall: (1) Provide written notification to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public health of any health care profession that has submitted a scope of practice request, including any request for exemption, to the department pursuant to this section; and (2) post any such request, including any request for exemption, and the name and address of the requestor on the department's web site.

(d) Any person or entity, acting on behalf of a health care profession that may be directly impacted by a scope of practice request submitted pursuant to this section, may submit to the department a written statement identifying the nature of the impact not later than October first of the year preceding the next regular session of the General Assembly. Any such person or entity directly impacted by a scope of practice request shall indicate the nature of the impact taking into consideration the criteria set forth in subsection (b) of this section and shall provide a copy of the written impact statement to the requestor. Not later than October fifteenth of such year, the requestor shall submit a written response to the department and any person or entity that has provided a written impact statement. The requestor's written response shall include, but not be limited to, a description of areas of agreement and disagreement between the respective health care professions.

(P.A. 11-209, S. 1.)

History: P.A. 11-209 effective July 1, 2011.