Provider Disclose Discipline Convict Sex Offense

Beginning March 1, 2021, the act requires a health care provider (provider) to disclose to patients if the provider has been convicted of a sex offense or has been subject to final agency action resulting in probation or a limitation on practice when the discipline is based in whole or in part on the provider's sexual misconduct. The act specifies the content of the disclosure and requires the provider to obtain the patient's signed agreement to treatment and acknowledgment of receipt of the disclosure before rendering services to the patient. The disclosure requirement ends when a provider has satisfied the requirements of probation or other limitations on the provider's ability to practice. Additionally, a provider is not required to make the disclosure before providing professional services to a patient who is unconscious or otherwise unable to comprehend or sign the disclosure and for whom a guardian is unavailable; who seeks care at an emergency room or freestanding emergency department or at an unscheduled visit; who is unknown to the provider until immediately before the start of the patient visit; or with whom the provider does not have a direct treatment relationship or direct contact. Failure to comply with the requirements of the act constitutes unprofessional conduct or grounds for discipline under the practice act that regulates the provider's profession but does not create a private right of action. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)