Senate Bill 1940
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 1998 SB 1940
By Senator Myers
27-1671-98
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to health care practitioners;
3 requiring the Department of Health to develop
4 guidelines for development of a standardized
5 system for collecting and verifying core
6 credentials of health care practitioners
7 through certified credentials-verification
8 entities; providing definitions; providing for
9 a Credentials Verification Advisory Committee
10 to the department; requiring applicants for
11 licensure under ch. 458, ch. 459, ch. 460, or
12 ch. 461, F.S., to collect and submit initial
13 core-credentials data to a certified
14 credentials-verification entity; authorizing
15 certain health care entities to use a certified
16 credentials-verification entity to obtain
17 core-credentials data on health care
18 practitioners applying for privileges with the
19 entity; requiring the department to make
20 core-credentials data it collects on any
21 licensee available to a
22 credentials-verification entity; requiring the
23 department's procedures to meet national
24 standards; providing that credentialing
25 information furnished by the department must be
26 used solely for credentialing and
27 recredentialing; authorizing the department to
28 charge a reasonable fee; providing that health
29 care practitioners must have an opportunity to
30 review the core-credentials data; requiring the
31 secretary of the department to appoint a task
1
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 1998 SB 1940
27-1671-98
1 force to develop procedures for site visits;
2 prohibiting health care practitioners from
3 collecting duplicate core-credentials data from
4 individual health care practitioners or from
5 originating sources; providing rulemaking
6 authority to the department; providing an
7 effective date.
8
9 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
10
11 Section 1. Standardized system of verifying
12 credentials.--
13 (1) As used in this section, the term:
14 (a) "Certification" means a quality assessment program
15 from the National Committee for Quality Assurance, the Joint
16 Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, and
17 other national accreditation organizations used to assess and
18 certify credentials-verification organizations and other
19 entities that verify the credentials of health care entities.
20 (b) "Core credentials" means education, training,
21 continuing education, references, licensure,
22 drug-enforcement-administration certification, personal
23 identification number, board certification,
24 Education-Commission-for-Foreign-Medical-Graduate information,
25 hospital affiliations, managed-care-organization affiliations,
26 other institutional affiliations, professional-society
27 memberships, professional liability insurance, claims, suits,
28 Medicare and Medicaid sanctions, civil and criminal law
29 violations, practitioner-profiling data, special conditions of
30 impairment, and regulatory exemptions not previously reported
31 to the department in accordance with section 455.565, Florida
2
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 1998 SB 1940
27-1671-98
1 Statutes, and the initial-licensure reporting requirements
2 specified in the applicable practice act.
3 (c) "Credentialing" means the process of assessing and
4 validating the qualifications of a licensed independent health
5 care practitioner to provide patient care services in a health
6 care facility or for any other health care entity.
7 (d) "Credentials-verification entity" means any
8 program, entity, or organization that is organized and
9 certified for the expressed purpose of collecting, verifying,
10 maintaining, and providing, as authorized by the health care
11 practitioner in accordance with the provisions of this
12 section, his or her core credentials to health care entities.
13 (e) "Department" means the Department of Health.
14 (f) "Health care entity" means any health care
15 facility or managed care organization licensed or certified to
16 provide approved medical and allied health services in this
17 state.
18 (g) "Health care practitioner" means any person
19 licensed under chapter 458, chapter 459, chapter 460, or
20 chapter 461, Florida Statutes.
21 (h) "Primary-source verification" means verification
22 of professional qualifications based on evidence obtained
23 directly from the issuing source of the qualification.
24 (i) "National accrediting organization" means an
25 organization that awards accreditation to hospitals, managed
26 care organizations, or other health care organizations,
27 including the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health
28 Care Organizations and the National Committee for Quality
29 Assurance.
30 (j) "Recredentialing" means the process by which a
31 credentials-verification entity verifies the credentials of a
3
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 1998 SB 1940
27-1671-98
1 health care practitioner whose core credentials are currently
2 on file with the entity.
3 (k) "Secondary-source verification" means confirmation
4 of a professional qualification by means other than
5 primary-source verification, as outlined by national
6 accrediting organizations.
7 (2)(a) In accordance with the provisions of this
8 section, the department shall develop guidelines for
9 development of a standardized system for collecting and
10 verifying core credentials of health care practitioners
11 through certified credentials-verification entities to
12 eliminate duplication. Once the core credentials are
13 collected, the health care practitioner is not required to
14 resubmit the initial data when applying for practice
15 privileges with health care entities.
16 (b) The department shall appoint a nine-member
17 Credentials-Verification Advisory Committee to assist with
18 development of guidelines for development of the
19 credentials-verification program.
20 (c) The department, in consultation with the
21 Credentials-Verification Advisory Committee, shall develop a
22 standard from for the reporting of core-credentials data for
23 credentialing and recredentialing.
24 (d) Individuals applying for licensure under chapter
25 458, chapter 459, chapter 460, or chapter 461, Florida
26 Statutes, are required to collect and submit initial
27 core-credentials data to a certified credentials-verification
28 entity. Applicants may decide which credentials-verification
29 entity they want to process and store their core-credentials
30 data.
31
4
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 1998 SB 1940
27-1671-98
1 (3) Health care entities that employ, contract with,
2 or allow health care practitioners to treat their patients may
3 use a certified credentials-verification entity to obtain
4 core-credentials data on health care practitioners applying
5 for privileges with their entity. Additional information
6 required by the entity's credentialing process may be
7 collected by the health care entity.
8 (4) Health care entities may contract with other
9 entities to perform the functions required under subsection
10 (2).
11 (5)(a) The department shall make any core-credentials
12 data it collects on any licensee available to a
13 credentials-verification entity on a one-time basis, provided
14 the licensee authorizes the release of the information.
15 (b) Credentialing information furnished by the
16 department must be used solely for credentialing and
17 recredentialing.
18 (c) The department may charge credentials-verification
19 entities a reasonable fee for accessing the core-credentials
20 data it maintains on applicants and licensees. The fee must be
21 set in consultation with the advisory committee and must not
22 exceed the actual cost of providing the data.
23 (6) The credentials-verification entity may rely upon
24 core-credentials data from the department if the department
25 certifies that the information was obtained in accordance with
26 its primary-source verification procedures.
27 (7) The department's credentials-verification
28 procedures must meet national standards, as outlined by
29 national accrediting organizations.
30
31
5
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 1998 SB 1940
27-1671-98
1 (8) Credentials-verification entities that do business
2 in this state shall meet national standards, as outlined by
3 national accrediting organizations.
4 (9) Health care entities shall be held harmless and
5 shall not be liable if they rely on data obtained from a
6 certified credentials-verification entity.
7 (10) Health care practitioners must have an
8 opportunity to review the core-credentials data before it is
9 stored in the data bank of a credentials-verification entity.
10 (11) The secretary of the department shall appoint a
11 task force to develop procedures to expand the standardized
12 credentials-verification program to include site visits.
13 (12) Health care entities may not attempt to collect
14 duplicate core-credentials data from individual health care
15 practitioners or from originating sources.
16 (13) The department shall adopt rules necessary to
17 develop and implement a standardized credentials-verification
18 program.
19 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 1999.
20
21 *****************************************
22 SENATE SUMMARY
23 Requires the Department of Health to develop guidelines
for development of a standardized system for collecting
24 and verifying core credentials of health care
practitioners through certified credentials-verification
25 entities. Provides procedures, guidelines, standards, and
rulemaking authority. Authorizes a fee. (See bill for
26 details.)
27
28
29
30
31
6