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Senate approves bill adding clinical informatics, lifestyle medicine and "medical virtualist" to recognized specialties
Summary
SB 1753, rewritten by the Health and Welfare Committee, adds clinical informatics, lifestyle medicine and medical virtualist to the definition of medical practice, clarifies medical-necessity standards and subjects providers to board discipline for improper determinations; the bill passed on third reading after sponsor explained it was brought by the Tennessee Medical Association.
The Senate adopted an H&W Committee amendment to SB 1753 and passed the bill on third and final consideration. The amendment rewrites the bill to add three specialties — clinical informatics, lifestyle medicine and medical virtualist — to the roster of specialties whose use of certain titles may imply practice of medicine.
Sponsor Speaker Hale said the bill was brought by the Tennessee Medical Association to ensure licensing and disciplinary frameworks reflect how care is delivered. The legislation also clarifies that medical necessity determinations are part of the practice of medicine, that physicians across specialties should follow generally accepted criteria for those determinations, and that licensing boards may discipline providers who fail to apply appropriate standards.
Senators asked for examples and clarification: a clinical informatics physician uses data and analytics to improve outcomes, a lifestyle medicine physician focuses on chronic disease prevention and management, and a medical virtualist uses telehealth technologies. After brief questions, the bill passed with a constitutional majority.
