BILL NUMBER: AB 269 CHAPTERED 10/05/07 CHAPTER 262 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 5, 2007 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR OCTOBER 5, 2007 PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 5, 2007 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 7, 2007 AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 30, 2007 AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 20, 2007 AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 26, 2007 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 17, 2007 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Eng (Coauthors: Assembly Members Davis, Dymally, and Laird) FEBRUARY 5, 2007 An act to add Section 1715.5 to the Business and Professions Code, relating to dentistry. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 269, Eng. Dentists: dental auxiliaries: licensure renewal. The Dental Practice Act provides for the licensure and regulation of dentists by the Dental Board of California, and provides for the licensure and regulation of dental auxiliaries by the Committee on Dental Auxiliaries. The act requires each licensee to apply to the board or the committee, as appropriate, for license renewal. This bill would require a licensee, as specified, to report, upon his or her initial licensure and any application for license renewal, information regarding his or her specialty board certification and practice status and would authorize this information to be posted on the board's or the committee's Internet Web site. The bill would authorize a licensee, including a dental auxiliary licensee, to report cultural background and foreign language proficiency in his or her licensure renewal application, and would require that this information be compiled and reported on the board's or the committee' s Internet Web site on or before July 1 of each year. The bill would require the board and the committee to take certain actions to phase in this reporting mechanism by January 1, 2009. The bill would specify that if the committee ceases to exist its responsibilities pursuant to these provisions be transferred to the successor entity or entities responsible for licensing registered dental hygienists and registered dental assistants. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature to determine the number of dentists and licensed or registered dental auxiliaries with cultural and linguistic competency who are practicing dentistry in California. (b) Collecting data on dentists and dental auxiliaries serving any given area allows for the consistent determination of the areas of California that are underserved by dentists and dental auxiliaries with cultural or linguistic competency. SEC. 2. Section 1715.5 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read: 1715.5. (a) A licensee shall, upon his or her initial licensure and any subsequent application for renewal, report the completion of any advanced educational program accredited by the Committee on Dental Accreditation in a dental specialty recognized by the American Dental Association. (b) The licensee shall also report, upon his or her initial licensure and any subsequent application for renewal, the practice or employment status of the licensee, designated as one of the following: (1) Full-time practice or employment in a dental practice of 32 hours per week or more in California. This reporting requirement shall also apply to a dental auxiliary licensee. (2) Full-time practice or employment in a dental practice outside of California. (3) Part-time practice or employment in a dental practice for less than 32 hours per week in California. (4) Dental administrative employment that does not include direct patient care, as may further be defined by the board. (5) Retired. (6) Other practice or employment status, as may be further defined by the board. (c) Information collected pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be posted on the Internet Web site of the board or the Committee on Dental Auxiliaries (COMDA), as appropriate. (d) (1) A licensee, including a dental auxiliary licensee, may report, in his or her application for renewal, and the board or COMDA, as appropriate shall collect, information regarding the licensee's cultural background and foreign language proficiency. This requirement shall be phased in by January 1, 2009, as provided in paragraph (2). (2) Prior to collecting information beginning on January 1, 2009, pursuant to this subdivision, the board and COMDA shall, on or before the preceding March 1, prepare the survey questions and prepare for a test run of dental students to ensure the efficiency of the data being collected. On or before the preceding July 1, the board and COMDA shall advise their licensees that they are collecting this data before commencing collection of data under this subdivision. On or before the preceding October 1, the board and COMDA shall conduct the test run of dental students and make appropriate changes to the survey questions prior to data collection implementation. (3) Information collected pursuant to this subdivision shall be aggregated on an annual basis, based on categories utilized by the board and COMDA in the collection of the data, into both statewide totals and ZIP Code of primary practice or employment location totals. (4) Aggregated information under this subdivision shall be compiled annually, and reported on the Internet Web site of the board or COMDA, as appropriate, on or before July 1 of each year. (e) It is the intent of the Legislature to utilize moneys in the State Dental Auxiliary Fund to pay any cost incurred by the Committee on Dental Auxiliaries in implementing this section. (f) If COMDA ceases to exist, the responsibilities placed upon it by this section shall be transferred to the successor entity or entities responsible for licensing registered dental hygienists and registered dental assistants.