BILL ANALYSIS
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|Hearing Date:April 13, 2009 |Bill No:SB |
| |620 |
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SENATE COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT
Senator Gloria Negrete McLeod, Chair
Bill No: SB 620Author:Wiggins
As Introduced: February 27, 2009 Fiscal: Yes
SUBJECT: Healing Arts: osteopathic physicians and
surgeons.
SUMMARY: Requires a licensed osteopathic physician and
surgeon (D.O.) to report to the Osteopathic Medical Board
of California (OMBC) at the time of license renewal, any
specialty board certification and their practice status, as
defined. Allows a D.O. to report, and the OMBC to collect,
information regarding his or her cultural background, and
foreign language proficiency. Information collected may be
placed on the OMBC's Internet website.
Existing law:
1)Establishes the Osteopathic Act of 1922 by voter
initiative to regulate the practice of osteopathic
medicine. Establishes the OMBC to license, regulate and
discipline D.O.s. Specifies that the policy of the state
of California is that holders of M.D. degrees and D.O.
degrees are accorded equal professional status and
privileges as licensed physicians and surgeons.
2)Establishes the Medical Board of California (MBC) to
license, regulate, and discipline physicians and
surgeons, and specifies that the protection of the public
is the highest priority of the MBC.
3)Requires a physician and surgeon licensed by the MBC to
report at the time of license renewal, any specialty
board certification and their practice status, as
defined. Allows a physician and surgeon to report and
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the MBC to collect, information regarding his or her
cultural background and foreign language proficiency.
Allows information collected to be aggregated on an
annual basis and reported on the MBC's Internet website.
4)Establishes the Office of Statewide Health Planning and
Development (OSHPD) is to, among other things, analyze
health care infrastructure, promote a diverse and
competent health care workforce, provide information
about health care outcomes. Establishes the California
Health Care Workforce Clearinghouse Program
(clearinghouse) within OSHPD to serve as the state's
central source of healthcare workforce and educational
data. The clearinghouse was established by SB 139
(Scott), Chapter 522, Statutes of 2007, and is currently
in development, and will serve as the central source for
collection, analysis, and distribution of information on
the health care workforce employment and educational data
trends for the state.
This bill:
1)Requires a licensed D.O. to report to the OMBC, at the time of
license renewal, any specialty board certification that he or
she holds that is issued by a member board of the American
Board of Medical Specialties or approved by the OMBC, and his
or her practice status.
2)Designates practice status as one of the following:
a) Full-time practice in California.
b) Full-time practice outside of California.
c) Part-time practice in California.
d) Medical administrative employment that does not include
direct patient care.
e) Retired.
f) Other practice status, as may be further defined by the
OMBC.
1)Allows a licensed D.O. to report and the OMBC to collect, at
the time of license renewal, information regarding his or her
cultural background and foreign language proficiency.
2)Specifies that the information collected pursuant to this
section may be placed on the OMBC's Internet website.
3)Makes the provisions of this bill operative on July 1, 2010.
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FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. This bill has been keyed "fiscal"
by Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the Sponsor of this bill, the
Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons of California (OPSC),
data relating to physician supply in California has not
included information relating to osteopathic physicians
and surgeons. The Sponsor points out that in order to
provide a more accurate picture of all physicians
practicing in California, information on osteopathic
physicians and surgeons must be captured to better
address recruitment and retention of physicians, and help
identify services needed in specific regions of the
state. In support of the need for this bill, the OPSC
provided the committee with a study conducted by the
Center for the Health Professions in 2001 entitled The
Practice of Medicine in California: A Profile of the
Physician Workforce (study). This study provided
information on supply and distribution of physicians
across the state, findings on the geographic and
specialty distribution of physicians, demographic
characteristics, physician payment and earnings and care
for underserved Californians. The Sponsor concludes that
the information that will be collected pursuant to this
bill would provide an accurate count of physicians,
including D.O.s in primary and specialty care statewide
and by county, similar to the information captured in the
study.
2)Background. The Osteopathic Initiative Act of 1922 was
established through the initiative process and created
the OMBC to license and regulate the practice of
osteopathic medicine in California. Existing law states
that holders of medical degrees and osteopathic degrees
are accorded equal professional status and privileges as
licensed physicians and surgeons. According to the
website of the OPSC, the professional organization
representing D.O.s, osteopathic physicians, put special
emphasis on the role of the bones, muscles and joints in
the healthy functioning of the human body. D.O.s are
physicians who may be certified to specialize in family
medicine, obstetrics or gynecology, pediatrics, surgery,
internal medicine, and all other medical specialties and
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subspecialties. The Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment
(OMT) is incorporated in the training and practice of
D.O.s. With OMT, D.O.s use their hands to diagnose
injury and illness, and to encourage the body's natural
tendency toward good health. Currently, there are over
5,000 D.O.s licensed and regulated by the OMBC.
3)Similar Legislation. SB 606 (Ducheny), requires the OMBC
to assess an additional $25 fee from an applicant for an
original or reciprocity certificate or for a biennial
license of a D.O. for the purposes of the Steven M.
Thompson Physician Corps Loan Repayment Program. SB 606
is pending in this Committee and will be heard on April
13, 2009.
4)Previous Legislation. AB 1586 (Negrete McLeod) Chapter
590, Statutes of 2001, requires physicians and surgeons
on or before July 1, 2003, to report to the MBC at the
time of license renewal any specialty board certification
held and the physician and surgeons practice status, as
defined.
AB 269 (Eng) Chapter 269, Statutes of 2007, requires a
dentist to report upon licensure or renewal of license,
information on specialty board certification and practice
status and authorized such information to be posted on
the Dental Board of California's Internet Web site. AB
269 also authorized that information be aggregated on an
annual basis based on specified categories.
SUPPORT AND OPPOSITION:
Support:
Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons of California (Sponsor)
Opposition:
None on file as of April 6, 2009.
Consultant: Rosielyn Pulmano
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