New Legislation Will Impact Physicians and Health Care Employees

Two bills were recently signed into law that will impact health care professionals in a variety of settings.

House Bill 1482, signed into law as Act 110 of 2010 on Nov. 23, 2010, amends the Health Care Facilities Act to require the Department of Health to promulgate regulations requiring employees of health care facilities, health care providers and physicians’ private practices who deliver direct care to consumers to wear photo identification tags when working. The photo ID tags must include a recent photograph of the employee, the employee’s name, the employee’s title and the name of the health care facility or employment agency.

The act specifies the titles that should be used on the tags to identify different types of professionals as follows:

• A medical doctor and doctor of osteopathy should use the title "physician."
  
  
• A registered nurse should use the title "registered nurse."
  
  
• A licensed practical nurse should use the title "licensed practical nurse."
  
  
• All other titles will be determined by the Department of Health.
  
  

Exceptions to the photo ID tag requirement include the following:

• An employee does not have to wear an ID tag if it is not clinically feasible.
  
  
• The last name of an employee may be omitted or concealed when providing care to a consumer who exhibits symptoms of irrationality or violence.

More information about Act 110 of 2010 can be found on the Pennsylvania General Assembly’s website.