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Committee adopts identification, disclosure requirements for health practitioners; bill passes unanimously
Summary
The Senate Health and Human Services Committee voted to advance Senate Bill 152, requiring practitioners in certain clinical settings to display and verbally disclose occupational identification; the committee passed the bill as amended unanimously.
Senate Bill 152, often described in committee as the "Know Your Health Care Practitioner Act," passed the Senate Health and Human Services Committee after stakeholder negotiation and adoption of an amendment narrowing its scope.
Sponsor Senator Sandra Frizzell said the bill requires practitioners to communicate information about their state-issued credentials to patients and called the legislation "pro-consumer." She described three areas of focus: clear display of credentials, reducing deceptive advertising, and a verbal disclosure during initial patient encounters. "This bill ensures that practitioners' credentials such as licenses, certifications, and registration are communicated clearly," Frizzell said.
During testimony, witnesses from multiple medical organizations, hospitals, hospice and emergency medicine supported the bill’s goals while urging practical scope and enforcement. Dr. Melissa Brooks Peterson, a pediatric anesthesiologist and parent of a child with complex medical needs, described situations where caregivers need to know who is entering the room: "Patients deserve to know who is walking into their room to take care of them," she said.
An amendment (L2) adopted in committee narrowed badge/display requirements so that only practitioners at general hospitals, freestanding emergency rooms and urgent care centers must wear name badges showing name and occupational designation, and it allowed facilities accredited by the Joint Commission (or similar accreditors) to follow accreditor standards instead of re-badging staff. Sponsors said the amendment also limited the frequency of verbal introductions to the initial patient encounter.
The committee debated enforcement and optician/optometrist concerns during the hearing; sponsors said the bill does not create a private right of action and left enforcement to the Division of Professions and Occupations (DORA) administrative processes. After amendment and discussion, Senator Frizzell moved to advance SB 152 as amended; the committee recorded unanimous passage and the chair announced the bill passed. The committee did not place SB 152 on the consent calendar at the end of the hearing, noting a possible additional amendment later.
