HLS 21RS-2902 ORIGINAL
2021 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 94
BY REPRESENTATIVE BISHOP
BOARDS/COMMISSIONS: Authorizes and directs healthcare professional licensing
boards to evaluate potential models for an independent scope of practice review
program for this state
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2To authorize and direct each healthcare professional licensing board of this state to evaluate
3 the independent scope of practice review programs of Connecticut and Nebraska as
4 potential models for such a program in this state and to report its evaluation to the
5 Louisiana legislative committees on health and welfare.
6 WHEREAS, the legislature hereby recognizes the necessity of establishing an
7independent body to objectively assess proposals affecting the scope of practice of licensed
8healthcare professions before those proposals become enshrined in legislation; and
9 WHEREAS, the term "scope of practice" refers to services and procedures that a
10healthcare professional may and may not deliver or perform; and
11 WHEREAS, Louisiana's health professions are regulated by several state licensing
12boards, each of which receives from the legislature its specific regulatory powers, including
13the power to enforce the requirements and limitations of a scope of practice; and
14 WHEREAS, state laws creating and providing for licensing and regulatory boards
15for healthcare providers and other professions and occupations are found in Title 37 of the
16Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, which provides for licensure and regulation of no less
17than thirty-five distinct health-related professions in this state; and
18 WHEREAS, duties of healthcare professional licensing boards in promoting and
19protecting public health and safety are longstanding requirements of state law, and
20legislative involvement with these boards is typically confined to minor revisions and
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HCR NO. 94
1updates to board-related statutes and occasional oversight of administrative rules that the
2boards promulgate; however, when health professions oppose and compete with each other,
3associations representing opposing provider groups bring these matters to the legislature in
4the form of requests for legislation to either expand one group's scope of practice or diminish
5another's, and even the small minority of legislators with a background in health care find
6it extremely challenging to make policy decisions that truly serve the public interest when
7dealing with scope of practice legislation; and
8 WHEREAS, by playing out in such a public setting as the state legislature, conflicts
9over scope of practice proposals, which can be among the most heated that legislators ever
10experience, reflect negatively on the parties involved; and
11 WHEREAS, several other states have seen fit to create independent scope of practice
12review programs as mechanisms for obtaining objective evaluations of proposals relating to
13health professions' scope of practice prior to those proposals going before those states'
14legislative bodies; and
15 WHEREAS, two of the most successful initiatives of this type are the Scope of
16Practice Determinations for Health Professions Program of the Connecticut Department of
17Public Health and the Credentialing Review Program of the Nebraska Department of Health
18and Human Services.
19 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
20authorize and direct each of the following healthcare professional licensing boards to
21evaluate the Scope of Practice Determinations for Health Professions Program of the
22Connecticut Department of Public Health and the Credentialing Review Program of the
23Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services as potential models for such a program
24in this state:
25 (1) The Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners.
26 (2) The Louisiana State Board of Nursing.
27 (3) The Louisiana State Board of Practical Nurse Examiners.
28 (4) The Louisiana State Board of Dentistry.
29 (5) The Louisiana Board of Pharmacy.
30 (6) The Louisiana State Board of Optometry Examiners.
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1 (7) The Louisiana Board of Chiropractic Examiners.
2 (8) The Louisiana Physical Therapy Board.
3 (9) The Louisiana Board of Massage Therapy.
4 (10) The Louisiana Board of Examiners for Speech-Language Pathology and
5Audiology.
6 (11) The Louisiana Board of Examiners in Dietetics and Nutrition.
7 (12) The Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists.
8 (13) The Louisiana Licensed Professional Counselors Board of Examiners.
9 (14) The Louisiana State Board of Social Work Examiners.
10 (15) The Louisiana Behavior Analyst Board.
11 (16) The Louisiana Addictive Disorder Regulatory Authority.
12 (17) The Louisiana Licensed Professional Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors
13Board of Examiners.
14 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that each board listed shall determine its position
15concerning each of the following matters:
16 (1) Whether the Scope of Practice Determinations for Health Professions Program
17of the Connecticut Department of Public Health is a suitable model for a program of this
18type in Louisiana.
19 (2) Whether the Credentialing Review Program of the Nebraska Department of
20Health and Human Services is a suitable model for a program of this type in Louisiana.
21 (3) Whether any other established program or any potential system not yet
22established would serve as a suitable model for an independent scope of practice review
23program for Louisiana.
24 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that each board which is subject to the provisions of
25this Resolution shall submit a report to the House Committee on Health and Welfare and the
26Senate Committee on Health and Welfare on or before December 31, 2021 which includes
27all of the following:
28 (1) Its position concerning whether or not the Scope of Practice Determinations for
29Health Professions Program of the Connecticut Department of Public Health is a suitable
30model for a program of this type in Louisiana and the rationale for this position.
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1 (2) Its position concerning whether or not the Credentialing Review Program of the
2Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services is a suitable model for a program of
3this type in Louisiana and the rationale for this position.
4 (3) Information other established programs or potential systems, if any, which would
5serve as a suitable model for an independent scope of practice review program for Louisiana.
6 (4) The current scope of practice of each healthcare profession that it licenses.
7 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that each board which is subject to the provisions of
8this Resolution may provide in the report required by this Resolution any information and
9commentary it deems appropriate for the legislative committees on health and welfare to
10consider on the matter of the potential establishment of an independent scope of practice
11review program for this state.
12 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
13executive director and the chairperson of the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners,
14the Louisiana State Board of Nursing, the Louisiana State Board of Practical Nurse
15Examiners, the Louisiana State Board of Dentistry, the Louisiana Board of Pharmacy, the
16Louisiana State Board of Optometry Examiners, the Louisiana Board of Chiropractic
17Examiners, the Louisiana Physical Therapy Board, the Louisiana Board of Massage
18Therapy, the Louisiana Board of Examiners for Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology,
19the Louisiana Board of Examiners in Dietetics and Nutrition, the Louisiana State Board of
20Examiners of Psychologists, the Louisiana Licensed Professional Counselors Board of
21Examiners, the Louisiana State Board of Social Work Examiners, the Louisiana Behavior
22Analyst Board, the Louisiana Addictive Disorder Regulatory Authority, and the Louisiana
23Licensed Professional Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors Board of Examiners.
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HCR NO. 94
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HCR 94 Original 2021 Regular Session Bishop
Authorizes and directs each healthcare professional licensing board of this state to determine
its position concerning each of the following matters:
(1)Whether the Scope of Practice Determinations for Health Professions Program of the
Connecticut Dept. of Public Health is a suitable model for a program of this type in
La.
(2)Whether the Credentialing Review Program of the Nebraska Dept. of Health and
Human Services is a suitable model for a program of this type in La.
(3)Whether any other established program or any potential system not yet established
would serve as a suitable model for an independent scope of practice review program
for La.
Requires that each licensing board to which this Resolution applies report its determination
regarding potential models for an independent scope of practice review program in La. to
the La. legislative committees on health and welfare on or before Dec. 31, 2021.
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