BILL ANALYSIS �
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.
AB 2102
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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
AB 2102
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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