Bill Text: NJ S915 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Creates voluntary survey for physicians as part of biennial registration process with Board of Medical Examiners and requires board to maintain and disseminate survey data as appropriate.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-02-04 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee [S915 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2016-S915-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator JENNIFER BECK
District 11 (Monmouth)
SYNOPSIS
Creates voluntary survey for physicians as part of biennial registration process with Board of Medical Examiners and requires board to maintain and disseminate survey data as appropriate.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act providing for a survey of physicians practicing in this State and supplementing Titles 26 and 45 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Department of Health, in collaboration with the State Board of Medical Examiners, shall develop a survey and testing methodology for the survey, which shall be made available to physicians to complete on a voluntary basis pursuant to section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill). The survey shall include questions relating to the physician's professional practice, including, but not limited to, the following information:
(1) whether the physician works full time, part time, or is retired;
(2) the percent of time spent in clinical practice, teaching, and research, as applicable;
(3) the address of each of the physician's practice sites; the amount of time spent practicing at each site; the primary and secondary specialties practiced at each site; and the type of facility in which each practice is located;
(4) the number of office staff employed at each practice site;
(5) the number of physicians working at each practice site;
(6) the number of hospitals at which the physician has admitting privileges;
(7) the extent to which the principal practice site uses electronic health records;
(8) the specific uses of computerized systems at the principal practice site;
(9) whether, in the next 24 months, the physician intends to retire, reduce patient care hours and, if so, the extent of the reduction, cease providing certain diagnostic or clinical services, or hire new physicians, nurse practitioners, or physician assistants;
(10) whether the physician is accepting additional patients in the physician's practice, including Medicare and Medicaid recipients, patients covered by commercial insurance, or uninsured patients;
(11) the cost incurred by the physician for medical malpractice liability insurance coverage, and whether the coverage is paid for by the physician's employer; and
(12) the State and country in which the physician resided upon graduation from high school, upon graduation from medical school, and during the physician's most recent residency.
2. a. The State Board of Medical Examiners shall make available to each physician licensed to practice medicine and surgery in this State, as part of the biennial registration process pursuant to section 1 of P.L.1971, c.236 (C.45:9-6.1), a voluntary online survey, developed pursuant to section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), on the Internet website of the board. The board shall not condition a physician's biennial registration on whether the physician chooses to complete the survey, or the response that the physician provides to any question included in the survey.
b. The board shall compile the survey results completed pursuant to subsection a. of this section and shall serve as the repository of the survey results. The data obtained from the survey that are to be made available to entities pursuant to subsection c. of this section shall not link a physician's name and scope of practice in any manner that any physician completing the survey may be identified.
c. The board shall maintain a record of the survey data and shall make the data available within 30 calendar days of a request from:
(1) other State entities or programs as they may require or deem appropriate for the performance of their duties pursuant to State or federal law or regulations, or as may be required for any State entity or program to obtain federal funds as may be made available to the State for purposes that relate to the information contained in the survey results; and
(2) medical professional societies, medical schools, and other organizations representing health care providers or involved with physician work force planning, in this State, upon their written request and at no charge to these entities, in a manner to be determined by the board.
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would require that a voluntary survey developed by the Department of Health, in collaboration with the State Board of Medical Examiners (BME), be made available to physicians as part of the biennial registration process for physicians. The survey is to include questions relating to the physician's professional practice.
The BME is to make the voluntary online survey available on the BME website to every physician licensed to practice in this State. The BME is prohibited from conditioning the physician's biennial registration on whether the physician completes the survey or on any response provided to a survey question. The BME is to compile, and serve as the repository of, the survey results.
The information obtained from the survey is to be made available within 30 calendar days of a request from: other State entities and programs as appropriate for the performance of their duties under State or federal law or regulations, or as required to obtain federal funds available to the State for purposes that relate to the survey results; and medical professional societies, medical schools, and other organizations representing health care providers or that are involved with physician work force planning in the State.
The data obtained from the survey that are made available to various entities pursuant to the bill are not to link a physician's name and scope of practice in any manner that would identify the physician who completed the survey.
