Bill Text: HI SB2331 | 2016 | Regular Session | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Visiting Physicians; Sports; Licensure; Exemption

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 10-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-02-24 - The committee on CPH deferred the measure. [SB2331 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2016-SB2331-Introduced.html

---

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	2331
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2016
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

relating to sports medicine.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 

     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that amateur, collegiate, and professional sports teams regularly have an affiliated physician who travels with the team to provide ongoing and emergency medical care.  However, the State does not have a mechanism by which it may issue a limited sports team license or exemption for these physicians to provide medical services for a visiting sports team and its staff.  Other states, such as Kentucky, Ohio, and South Carolina, already have legislation that addresses this issue, ensuring that licensed out-of-state physicians are allowed to provide medical services while traveling for sport-related events.

     The purpose of this Act is to allow out-of-state licensed physicians affiliated with a sports team or national sport governing body to provide medical services for team members and coaching staff under certain conditions without a Hawaii license to practice medicine.

     SECTION 2.  Section 453-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

     "(b)  Nothing herein shall:

     (1)  Apply to so-called Christian Scientists; provided that the Christian Scientists practice the religious tenets of their church without pretending a knowledge of medicine or surgery;

     (2)  Prohibit service in the case of emergency or the domestic administration of family remedies;

     (3)  Apply to any commissioned medical officer in the United States armed forces or public health service engaged in the discharge of one's official duty, including a commissioned medical officer employed by the United States Department of Defense, while providing direct telehealth support or services to neighbor island beneficiaries within a Hawaii National Guard armory on the island of Kauai, Hawaii, Molokai, or Maui; provided that the commissioned medical officer employed by the United States Department of Defense is credentialed by Tripler Army Medical Center;

     (4)  Apply to any practitioner of medicine and surgery from another state when in actual consultation, including in-person, mail, electronic, telephonic, fiber-optic, or other telehealth consultation with a licensed physician or osteopathic physician of this State, if the physician or osteopathic physician from another state at the time of consultation is licensed to practice in the state in which the physician or osteopathic physician resides; provided that:

         (A)  The physician or osteopathic physician from another state shall not open an office, or appoint a place to meet patients in this State, or receive calls within the limits of the State for the provision of care for a patient who is located in this State;

         (B)  The licensed physician or osteopathic physician of this State retains control and remains responsible for the provision of care for the patient who is located in this State; and

         (C)  The laws and rules relating to contagious diseases are not violated;

     (5)  Prohibit services rendered by any person certified under part II of this chapter to provide emergency medical services, or any physician assistant, when the services are rendered under the direction and control of a physician or osteopathic physician licensed in this State except for final refraction resulting in a prescription for spectacles, contact lenses, or visual training as performed by an oculist or optometrist duly licensed by the State.  The direction and control shall not be construed in every case to require the personal presence of the supervising and controlling physician or osteopathic physician.  Any physician or osteopathic physician who employs or directs a person certified under part II of this chapter to provide emergency medical services, or a physician assistant, shall retain full professional and personal responsibility for any act that constitutes the practice of medicine when performed by the certified person or physician assistant;

     (6)  Prohibit automated external defibrillation by:

         (A)  Any first responder personnel certified by the department of health to provide automated external defibrillation when it is rendered under the medical oversight of a physician or osteopathic physician licensed in this State; or

         (B)  Any person acting in accordance with section 663‑1.5(e); [or]

     (7)  Prohibit a radiologist duly licensed to practice medicine and provide radiology services in another state from using telehealth while located in this State to provide radiology services to a patient who is located in the state in which the radiologist is licensed.  For the purposes of this paragraph:

              "Radiologist" means a doctor of medicine or a doctor of osteopathy certified in radiology by the American Board of Radiology or the American Board of Osteopathy.

              "Telehealth" means the use of telecommunications, as that term is defined in section 269-1, including but not limited to real-time video conferencing-based communication, secure interactive and non-interactive web-based communication, and secure asynchronous information exchange, to transmit patient medical information, including diagnostic-quality digital images and laboratory results for medical interpretation and diagnosis, for the purpose of delivering enhanced health care services and information to parties separated by distance.  Standard telephone contacts, facsimile transmissions, or e-mail texts, in combination or by themselves, do not constitute a telehealth service for the purposes of this paragraph[.]; or

     (8)  Apply to any physician who is licensed and in good standing to practice in another state who:

         (A)  Has a written or oral agreement with a sports team to provide care to the team members and coaching staff traveling with the team for a specific sporting event to take place in the State; or

         (B)  Has been invited by a national sport governing body to provide services to team members and coaching staff at a national sport training center in the State or to provide services at an event or competition in the State that is sanctioned by the national sport governing body; provided that the physician's practice is limited to that required by the national sport governing body; provided further that the services provided by the physician shall be within the area of the physician's competence.

          A physician who is exempt under this paragraph shall not provide care or consultation to any person residing in the State other than a person delineated in this paragraph and shall not practice at a health care clinic or health care facility, including an acute care facility.  An exemption under subparagraph (A) shall be valid while the physician is traveling with the sports team, but shall be no longer than ten days in duration per sporting event; provided that the physician may submit a written request to the Hawaii medical board to provide authorized services for twenty additional days, but the physician's services shall not exceed thirty days total.  An exemption under subparagraph (B) shall be valid during the time certified by the national sport governing body; provided that the exemption shall not exceed thirty days total.  The Hawaii medical board may enter into agreements with the medical licensing boards of other states to implement the provisions of this paragraph."

     SECTION 3.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2016.

 

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

 

 

Report Title:

Visiting Physicians; Sports; Licensure; Exemption

 

Description:

Allows visiting licensed physicians traveling with a sports team or national sport governing body to provide medical treatment to team members and coaching staff under certain conditions without a Hawaii license to practice medicine.

 

 

 

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.