BILL ANALYSIS
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|Hearing Date: April 8, 2002 |Bill No:SB |
| |1589 |
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SENATE COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS
Senator Liz Figueroa, Chair
Bill No: SB 1589Author:Perata
As Introduced Fiscal:No
SUBJECT: Dentistry: dental hygienists.
SUMMARY: Authorizes a registered dental hygienist in
alternative practice (RDHAP) to be an employee of specified
clinics or public health entities.
Existing law:
1)Provides for the licensing and regulation of dentists,
Registered Dental Hygienists (RDHs) and Registered Dental
Hygienists in Alternative Practice (RDHAPs) by the Dental
Board of California.
2)Provides that an RDHAP is a RDH with additional specified
education and training who may perform specified dental
hygiene services independent of supervision by a licensed
dentist, in specified practice settings, on a patient who
presents a written prescription for those services from a
licensed dentist.
3)Specifies that a RDHAP is authorized to practice: as an
employee of a dentist or of another RDHAP, as an
independent contractor, or as a sole proprietor of an
alternative dental hygiene practice. Also specifies that
a RDHAP may perform specified dental hygiene services in
the following settings: residences of the homebound,
schools, residential facilities and other institutions,
and dental health professional shortage areas.
4)Specifies that a RDHAP may perform dental hygiene
services (without supervision by a dentist) on patients
who present a written prescription for those services,
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from a licensed dentist or physician who has previously
performed a physical examination and diagnosis of the
patient.
This bill:
Authorizes a RDHAP to be an employee of a primary care
clinic exempt from licensure as a clinic operated by a
recognized Indian tribe on tribal land, or as an employee
of a clinic owned and operated by a public hospital or
health system, or as an employee of a clinic owned and
operated by a hospital that maintains a primary contract
with county government, to fulfill it's statutory
responsibility to provide health care to indigent persons.
FISCAL EFFECT: None.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose. This bill is sponsored by the California Dental
Hygienists' Association to allow RDHAPs to be employed by
"safety net" organizations and public health entities.
2.Background. The statutory scheme that created so-called
independent practice for registered dental hygienists
with advanced training - referred to as RDHAPs - was
enacted by AB 560 (Perata, Chapter 753 - Statutes of
1997). That law specifies only certain limited settings
in which the RDHAP may perform his or her dental hygiene
services without the supervision of a licensed dentist.
Those settings currently do not include settings where
organizations and public health entities are providing
basic dental health care to indigent or underserved
populations - populations for which access to dental
hygiene services were sought to be increased via the
creation of the RDHAP license classification.
3.Arguments in Support. RDHAPs work with populations
outside of the "traditional" dental office setting - i.e.
those who cannot afford to and who do not have ready
access to a traditional private dental office setting.
Safety net organizations and public health entities, who
do serve these populations, cannot directly employ RDHAPs
to provide their independent dental hygiene services to
patients who have a diagnosed need for those services.
These entities are among those who could utilize the
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services of RDHAPs the most, and are the type of
organizations and settings that fit in with the type of
practice and access that was envisioned and enacted for
RDHAPs.
SUPPORT AND OPPOSITION:
Support: California Dental Hygienists' Association (CDHA -
sponsor)
Opposition:None received
Consultant:Jay J. DeFuria