BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 2102
                                                                  Page  1

          CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
          AB 2102 (Ting)
          As Amended  August 4, 2014
          Majority vote
           
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          |ASSEMBLY:  |56-15|(May 15, 2014)  |SENATE: |27-9 |(August 18,    |
          |           |     |                |        |     |2014)          |
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           Original Committee Reference:    B., P. & C.P.  

           SUMMARY  :  Requires the Board of Registered Nursing (BRN), the  
          Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians (BVNPT),  
          the Physician Assistant Board (PAB), and the Respiratory Care  
          Board of California (RCBC) to collect demographic data on their  
          respective licensees and provide that data to the Office of  
          Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD).    
          Specifically,  this bill  :  

          1)Requires BRN, BVNPT, PAB, and RCBC to collect all of the  
            following information on their respective licensees at least  
            biennially, at the time of both issuing an initial license and  
            a renewal license:

             a)   Location of practice, including city, county, and ZIP  
               code;

             b)   Race or ethnicity, by election of the licensee;

             c)   Gender;

             d)   Languages spoken; 

             e)   Educational background; and,

             f)   Classification of primary practice site among the types  
               of practice sites specified by the respective boards,  
               including, but not limited to, clinic, hospital, managed  
               care organization, or private practice.

          2)Requires BRN, BVNPT, PAB, and RCBC to provide that data  
            annually to OSHPD in a manner directed by OSHPD that allows  
            for inclusion into the annual health care workforce report  
            provided to the Legislature, as specified. 








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          3)Authorizes BRN to expend $145,000 from the BRN Fund in the  
            Professions and Vocations Fund for the purpose of implementing  
            this bill. 

          4)Makes Legislative findings and declarations relative to the  
            collection of information about California's health care  
            workforce.

          5)Makes other technical and clarifying changes.

           The Senate amendments  clarify that the data should be collected  
          both at initial issuance and renewal of the license, expand the  
          scope of the data collected to include classification of the  
          primary practice site, and authorize BRN to spend $145,000 in  
          implementation. 
           
           FISCAL EFFECT  :  According to the Senate Appropriations  
          Committee, one-time costs of about $130,000 for modifications to  
          the computer software used to process licensing applications  
          (various special funds).
           
          COMMENTS  :   

          1)Purpose of this bill.  This bill will require BRN, BVNPT, PAB,  
            and RCBC to report demographic information on their licensees  
            to OSHPD so that OSHPD can collect more complete and  
            consistent data on California's health care workforce.  With  
            that data, policy makers will ideally be better able to  
            identify geographic areas of the state where there are  
            shortages of health care workers with cultural and linguistic  
            competencies.  This bill is sponsored by the California  
            Pan-Ethnic Health Network and the Latino Coalition for a  
            Healthy California.

          2)Author's statement.  According to the author's office, "For  
            millions of Californians, comprehensive access to healthcare  
            depends on professionals who can provide culturally and  
            linguistically appropriate medical services.  California  
            collects data on healthcare occupations, but current data is  
            insufficient for determining the state's capacity to address  
            the needs of our diverse population, in particular language  
            access.  AB 2102 requires the collection and reporting of key  
            demographic data for registered nurses, nurse practitioners,  
            physician assistants, respiratory care providers, vocational  








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            nurses and psychiatric technicians.  This will enable the  
            state to better identify health care disparities and craft  
            solutions to ensure comprehensive coverage and greater health  
            care access for all Californians."

          3)The role of OSHPD in data collection.  OSHPD was created in  
            1978 to provide California with an enhanced understanding of  
            the structure and function of its healthcare delivery systems.  
             OSHPD is the statewide leader in collecting data and  
            disseminating information about California's healthcare  
            infrastructure, promoting an equitably distributed healthcare  
            workforce, and publishing valuable information about  
            healthcare outcomes.  

            OSHPD currently publishes an annual report to the Legislature  
            with information on education and employment trends in the  
            health care professions, current supply and demand for health  
            care workers, and gaps in the educational pipeline producing  
            workers in specific occupations and geographic area.   
            Available information for these reports is limited, however.   
            According to the author's office, race, language capacity, and  
            gender demographic information would greatly enrich the  
            quality of OSHPD's reports and better inform policymaking.   
            While some boards, such as BRN, do collect demographic data on  
            their licensees, this bill would standardize the information  
            required to be collected and formalize its inclusion in  
            OSHPD's annual report.    

            The author's office reports that these boards were chosen  
            because the Medical Board of California and Dental Board of  
            California already collect this demographic information, and  
            the remaining boards affected by this bill represent  
            professionals who work closely with patients and already  
            report some information to OSHPD.  
           

          Analysis Prepared by  :    Sarah Huchel / B., P. & C.P. / (916)  
          319-3301                                               FN:  
          0004973