Legislature(1999 - 2000)
04/27/1999 01:40 PM Senate L&C
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SB 71-PHYSICIAN LICENSURE CHANGES
CHAIRMAN MACKIE announced SB 71 to be up for consideration.
DR. SARAH ISTO, Chair of the State Medical Board, explained that SB
72 resolves licensure problems for the Board, updates Alaska
statutes in relation to other states, and corrects unintended
problems within the current law. DR. ISTO said the State Medical
Board supports the bill.
DR. ISTO explained there have been several difficulties over the
past few years that this bill is intended to remedy. There are
seven specific problems SB 71 deals with. First, the Board is not
currently able to consider the fact that an applicant is a
convicted felon, unless the felony was committed during the
practice of medicine. The Board would like to be able to consider
felony and misdemeanor offenses when they relate to an applicant's
fitness to practice.
Second, DR. ISTO said this bill will prevent delays and
interruptions in the delivery of patient care. Currently, if a
person is short of continuing education credits, they are supposed
to stop work immediately. SB 71 will allow a person to continue
practicing while a minor deficiency is corrected.
Next, DR. ISTO explained SB 71 will fix a problem for residents
being trained as doctors. Currently, only one-year permits and
licences are awarded, though this is a three-year program in
Anchorage. This bill will allow residents to be licenced after two
years.
Also, Section 5 removes a prohibition on considering anything short
of a suspension or revocation in another state. DR. ISTO said the
Board needs to be able to consider other disciplinary actions and
this section of the bill simply "extends the language into modern
day discipline uses."
Section 6 deals with citizenship. Alaska is the only state that
requires this, and DR. ISTO remarked she does not think this is
pertinent to a doctor's competence. There are people who are
legally in the U.S. that are not able to see patients in Alaska,
and DR. ISTO said she would like to see this requirement deleted.
Section 7 deals with foreign medical graduates who come from
medical schools that are not accredited by the U.S. or Canada.
Currently, a person is required to have completed one year of post
graduate training in an accredited school. Forty-seven other states
require a person to have completed three years of post graduate
training in an accredited school of medicine. She would like to see
Alaska adopt the three year standard. Additionally, people who
graduate from accredited schools after 1995 would be required to
have two years of post-graduate training.
SENATOR KELLY expressed concern about language on page 4, line 28
of the bill which gives the Board too much latitude and discretion
to consider misdemeanor offenses. DR. ISTO replied the language
of the bill requires the misdemeanor to be "substantially related
to the qualifications, functions or duties of the licensee" in
order to be considered by the Board. SENATOR KELLY agreed that is
the initial language, but the bill goes on to say "or a misdemeanor
in this or any other jurisdiction." SENATOR KELLY stated, "That's
any misdemeanor . . . I don't want to give the Board that kind of
discretion."
DR. ISTO said she still reads the bill to allow consideration of a
misdemeanor only as it relates to fitness to practice. SENATOR
KELLY maintained that even if the consideration is tied to fitness
to practice, "That's just a lot of discretion to give to a group of
people who control their own profession." He asked why it is
necessary to give the Board discretion to reject an application by
a person who has committed a misdemeanor. DR. ISTO stated it is not
the intention of the Board to "lightly decline applicants because
they had some misdemeanor." She said she believes the Board would
be willing to modify this, if they were still given the discretion
to consider felonies.
SENATOR MACKIE asked if this section deals with the Board imposing
sanctions on licensees who have been convicted. He said his concern
is that a person who has committed a misdemeanor may be denied the
opportunity to practice medicine. DR. ISTO said she had only
intended the Board be able to consider these things, not
necessarily act on them or "sanction somebody or refuse a new
applicant." She repeated it was not the intent of the Board to
include language that would allow denial of a license or sanction
for a misdemeanor "of no consequence to the practice of medicine."
Again, she said she would agree to softening of the language if the
Board retained the right to consider felonies. SENATOR MACKIE
thought that was the current law. MS. ISTO explained felonies
could be considered only if they occur as part of a person's duties
as a physician.
SENATOR MACKIE asked who wanted the misdemeanor language. He
thought an example of a misdemeanor the Board might want to
consider would help the committee understand the motivation behind
the proposed amendments. DR. ISTO suggested the Board may wish to
consider a recent DWI.
SENATOR DONLEY suggested the committee was going back over the same
ground and "somebody should either propose something or we should
hold the bill over."
SENATOR KELLY reiterated he is uncomfortable with the idea of tying
a misdemeanor to the fitness to practice. He said this could be a
subjective judgement of whomever happens to be on the Medical Board
at the time. It is an expansion of the Board's power that makes him
nervous. SENATOR DONLEY agreed. SENATOR MACKIE proposed he would
hold the bill over while they worked on this issue.
Number 532
MS. CATHERINE REARDON, Director of the Division of Occupational
Licencing, testified that the Department strongly supports the
bill. She noted that the Medical Board is interested in licencing
people quickly and does not attempt to block applications
unnecessarily. She suggested the Board may wish to consider
misdemeanors involving recent substance abuse, and said there is a
need to consider felonies unrelated to the practice of medicine.
She mentioned there is always a right to a due process hearing,
which checks irresponsible application of a person's history by the
Board. She stated the bill has a zero fiscal note and the
Department supports it.
CHAIRMAN MACKIE thanked everyone for their testimony and said they
would hold SB 71 and adjourned the meeting at 2:28 p.m.
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