BILL NUMBER: SB 562	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 18, 2013
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 30, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Galgiani

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2013

   An act to amend Section 1657 of the Business and Professions Code,
relating to dentists.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 562, as amended, Galgiani. Dentists: mobile or portable dental
units.
   Existing law, the Dental Practice Act, provides for the licensure
and regulation by the Dental Board of California of those engaged in
the practice of dentistry. Existing law provides that a person
practices dentistry if the person, among other things, manages or
conducts as manager, proprietor, conductor, lessor, or otherwise, in
any place where dental operations are performed. Existing law
authorizes a dentist to operate one mobile dental clinic or unit that
is registered and operated in accordance with regulations adopted by
the board.  Existing law also imposes specified registration
requirements on a dentist who maintains additional places of
practice.   Existing law exempts specified mobile units
from those   requirements.  Other provisions of
existing law, the Mobile Health Care Services Act, require, subject
to specified exemptions, licensure by the State Department of Health
Care Services to operate a mobile service unit.
   This bill would  eliminate the one mobile dental clinic or
unit limit and would  authorize a licensed dentist to operate
 one   a  mobile  dental unit  or
portable dental unit, as defined,  that is  registered and
operated in accordance with  those regulations. 
 the regulations of the board.  The bill would authorize the
 board to adopt  regulations  to include 
 , including  , but not  be  limited to,
requirements for availability of followup and emergency care,
maintenance, and availability of provider and patient records, and
treatment information to be provided to patients and other
appropriate parties.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 1657 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
   1657.  (a) For the purposes of this section, the following
definitions shall apply:
   (1) "Mobile dental unit" means a  self-contained 
facility in which dentistry  is   will be 
practiced  and  that  is routinely towed,
  may be  moved,  towed,  or transported
from one location to another.
   (2) "Portable dental unit" means  a nonfacility in which
 dental equipment used in the practice of dentistry
is   housed in a self-contained unit used for providing
dental treatment that is routinely  transported to, and used on
a temporary basis at,  an out-of-office location 
 a nondental office location  .
   (b) A  licensed dentist may operate one mobile or portable
dental unit. The mobile or portable dental unit  
mobile dental unit or portable de   ntal unit  shall be
registered and operated in accordance with regulations established
by the  board, provided these regulations are not 
 board. These regulations shall not be  designed to prevent
or lessen competition in service areas. The regulations may include,
but shall not be limited to, requirements for availability of
followup and emergency care,  maintenance,  
maintenance  and availability of provider and patient records,
and treatment information to be provided to patients and other
appropriate parties. A mobile  dental unit,  or  a 
portable dental unit registered and operated in accordance with the
board's regulations and that has paid the fees established by the
board, including a mobile dental unit registered for the purpose
specified in subdivision (e), shall otherwise be exempted from this
article and Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 1658).
   (c) A mobile service unit, as defined in subdivision (b) of
Section 1765.105 of the Health and Safety Code, and a mobile 
dental  unit  or portable dental unit  operated by an
entity that is exempt from licensure pursuant to subdivision (b),
(c), or (h) of Section 1206 of the Health and Safety Code, are exempt
from this article and Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 1658).
Notwithstanding this exemption, the owner or operator of the mobile
unit shall notify the board within 60 days of the date on which
dental services are first delivered in the mobile unit, or the date
on which the mobile unit's application pursuant to Section 1765.130
of the Health and Safety Code is approved, whichever is earlier.
   (d) A licensee practicing in a mobile unit described in
subdivision (c) is not subject to subdivision (b) as to that mobile
unit.
   (e) Notwithstanding Section 1625, a licensed dentist shall be
permitted to operate a mobile dental unit provided by his or her
property and casualty insurer as a temporary substitute site for the
practice registered by him or her pursuant to Section 1650 as long as
both of the following apply:
   (1) The licensed dentist's registered place of practice has been
rendered and remains unusable due to loss or calamity.
   (2) The licensee's insurer registers the  mobile dental 
unit with the board in compliance with subdivision (b).