Bill Text: NY S08759 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Authorizes a licensed dental hygienist, collaborative practice to provide services without supervision in collaboration with a licensed dentist under a collaborative practice agreement.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-20 - PRINT NUMBER 8759B [S08759 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S08759-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         8759--B

                    IN SENATE

                                      March 7, 2024
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen.  MAY  --  read  twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed  to  the  Committee  on  Higher  Education  --
          committee  discharged,  bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
          recommitted to said committee -- committee discharged,  bill  amended,
          ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee

        AN  ACT  to  amend  the  education law, in relation to registered dental
          hygienists working without  supervision  but  within  a  collaborative
          practice agreement with a licensed dentist

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1.  Section 6606 of the education law, as amended  by  chapter
     2  244  of the laws of 1973, subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 239 of the
     3  laws of 2013, is amended to read as follows:
     4    § 6606. Definition of practice of dental hygiene.  1. The practice  of
     5  the profession of dental hygiene is defined as the performance of dental
     6  services  which  shall  include removing calcareous deposits, accretions
     7  and stains from the exposed surfaces of the teeth  which  begin  at  the
     8  epithelial  attachment  and  applying  topical  agents  indicated  for a
     9  complete dental prophylaxis, removing cement, placing or removing rubber
    10  dam, removing sutures, placing matrix band, providing patient education,
    11  applying topical medication,  placing  and  exposing  diagnostic  dental
    12  X-ray  films, performing topical fluoride applications and topical anes-
    13  thetic applications, polishing teeth, taking medical  history,  charting
    14  caries,  taking impressions for study casts, placing and removing tempo-
    15  rary restorations, administering and monitoring nitrous oxide  analgesia
    16  and  administering and monitoring local infiltration anesthesia, subject
    17  to certification in accordance with section sixty-six hundred five-b  of
    18  this  article,  and any other function in the definition of the practice
    19  of dentistry as may be delegated by a  licensed  dentist  in  accordance
    20  with regulations promulgated by the commissioner. The practice of dental
    21  hygiene may be conducted in the office of any licensed dentist or in any
    22  appropriately  equipped school or public institution but [must] shall be
    23  done either under the supervision of a licensed dentist or[, in the case
    24  of a registered dental hygienist working for a hospital  as  defined  in

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02162-12-4
        S. 8759--B                          2

     1  article  twenty-eight of the public health law, pursuant to a collabora-
     2  tive arrangement with a licensed and registered dentist who has a formal
     3  relationship with the  same  hospital  in  accordance  with  regulations
     4  promulgated  by  the  department  in consultation with the department of
     5  health] may be performed by a registered dental hygienist designated  as
     6  a  registered  dental hygienist, collaborative practice in collaboration
     7  with a licensed dentist provided such services are performed in  accord-
     8  ance with a written practice agreement and written practice protocols to
     9  be  known  as  a collaborative practice agreement. Under a collaborative
    10  practice agreement, dental hygienists may perform all services which are
    11  designated in regulation under general supervision without prior  evalu-
    12  ation  of a dentist or medical professional and may be performed without
    13  supervision in an authorized setting as defined in subdivision  four  of
    14  this  section.  Such  collaborative  [arrangement]  agreements shall not
    15  obviate or supersede any law or  regulation  which  requires  identified
    16  services  to  be  performed under the personal supervision of a dentist.
    17  [When dental hygiene services are provided pursuant to  a  collaborative
    18  agreement,  such  dental hygienist shall instruct individuals to visit a
    19  licensed dentist for comprehensive examination or treatment.]
    20    2. The collaborative practice agreement shall:
    21    (a) be signed and maintained by the dentist, the dental hygienist  and
    22  authorized setting;
    23    (b) be reviewed annually by the dentist and dental hygienist;
    24    (c) include consideration for medically compromised patients, specific
    25  medical  conditions, and age- and procedure-specific practice protocols,
    26  including, but not limited to recommended intervals for the  performance
    27  of  dental  hygiene services  and  a periodicity in which an examination
    28  by a dentist should occur; and
    29    (d)  be  made available to the department and other interested parties
    30  upon request.
    31    3. Before performing services pursuant  to  a  collaborative  practice
    32  agreement,  a dental hygienist, collaborative practice shall provide the
    33  patient with a written statement advising the patient  that  the  dental
    34  hygiene  services provided are not a substitute for a dental examination
    35  by a licensed dentist. If the dental hygienist makes  any  referrals  to
    36  the  patient for further procedures, the dental hygienist shall fill out
    37  a referral form and provide a copy of  the  form  to  the  collaborating
    38  dentist.
    39    4.  The  performance of services pursuant to a collaborative agreement
    40  is authorized in the following settings: a hospital as defined in  arti-
    41  cle  twenty-eight  of  the  public health law, an appropriately equipped
    42  school, a federally qualified health center, a long-term care  facility,
    43  a  group home servicing people with intellectual and developmental disa-
    44  bilities, a facility serving veterans, a temporary housing  facility,  a
    45  prison,  a  drug  treatment  facility,  a domestic violence shelter, and
    46  appropriate settings in which homebound residents are unable to be relo-
    47  cated for necessary treatment.
    48    5. A registered  dental  hygienist, collaborative practice shall  have
    49  no more than one collaborative agreement  with  a dentist at one time.
    50    6.  A  dentist shall not have a collaborative agreement with more than
    51  six registered dental hygienists, collaborative practice  at  one  time.
    52  The  department  may  grant  an  exception to such limitation for public
    53  health settings on a case-by-case basis.
    54    7. A dental hygienist shall file an application with the department to
    55  practice as a registered dental hygienist,  collaborative  practice  and
    56  pay  a fee determined by the department. As a condition of collaborative
        S. 8759--B                          3

     1  practice, the dental hygienist shall have been engaged in  practice  for
     2  three  years with a minimum of four thousand five hundred practice hours
     3  and shall complete  an  eight-hour  continuing  education  program  that
     4  includes  instruction  in medical emergency procedures, risk management,
     5  dental hygiene jurisprudence and professional ethics.
     6    8. The commissioner shall promulgate regulations  defining  the  func-
     7  tions a dental hygienist may perform that are consistent with the train-
     8  ing and qualifications for a license as a dental hygienist.
     9    §  2.  This  act shall take effect eighteen months after it shall have
    10  become a law.