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Senate adopts bill to add emerging specialties and clarify medical-necessity oversight
Summary
Senate Bill 1753, amended by the Health and Welfare Committee, adds clinical informatics, lifestyle medicine and 'medical virtualist' to recognized specialties and clarifies that medical-necessity determinations fall under the practice of medicine subject to licensing-board discipline; the Senate passed the bill on final reading (recorded Ayes 28, Nays 2).
Speaker Hale renewed his motion for passage of Senate Bill 1753 after the Health and Welfare Committee offered Amendment 1, which rewrote the bill to add "clinical informatics," "lifestyle medicine," and "medical virtualist" to a list of specialties that when appended to a practitioner’s name could be understood as engaging in the practice of medicine. The amendment also clarified that physicians should follow generally accepted medical necessity standards across specialties and that medical providers may be subject to discipline by the Board of Medical Examiners for failing to apply appropriate standards when making medical-necessity determinations.
Speaker Hale explained the changes are sponsored by the Tennessee Medical Association and intended to align statutory definitions with how patients receive care; he said the bill formalizes recognition of the specialties, clarifies medical-necessity processes and places those determinations within the authority of licensing boards. Senators asked for examples of "lifestyle medicine" and "medical virtualist," and Speaker Hale described each specialty’s focus (prevention/chronic disease management and telehealth/remote-care technologies, respectively).
After limited floor questions the Senate voted and the clerk recorded the bill as passed on third and final consideration with a recorded tally of Ayes 28, Nays 2; the motion to reconsider was tabled.
