Senate Bill sb2144c1

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    Florida Senate - 2003                           CS for SB 2144

    By the Committee on Health, Aging, and Long-Term Care; and
    Senator Clary




    317-2258-03

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act creating the Board of Dentistry

  3         Empowerment Act; creating s. 466.055, F.S.;

  4         providing for the appointment of an executive

  5         director; providing for duties, and board

  6         oversight; requiring director to oversee staff;

  7         requiring the department to contract for a

  8         dental intake officer and providing

  9         qualifications; requiring certain

10         responsibilities of the officer; requiring the

11         board to establish certain performance

12         parameters for departmental handling of

13         disciplinary cases, and consequences; requiring

14         testing services to report to the board if

15         requested; requiring a board spending plan and

16         its content; requiring board spending authority

17         over discretionary budget items; requiring a

18         department report of certain information;

19         providing for a board response; providing an

20         effective date.

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22  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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24         Section 1.  Section 466.055, Florida Statutes, is

25  created to read:

26         466.055  Board of Dentistry Empowerment Act.--

27         (1)  If requested by the Board of Dentistry, it shall

28  direct the department whom to appoint as executive director

29  pursuant to the rules of the state personnel system. The

30  committee conducting interviews of candidates for executive

31  director shall consist of the board chairman or his designee

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    Florida Senate - 2003                           CS for SB 2144
    317-2258-03




 1  and the secretary or his or her designee. A list of final

 2  candidates shall be submitted to the board, which shall

 3  approve the candidate to be hired. The approval process shall

 4  include the right of the board to interview the list of

 5  submitted candidates. The board may reject all the candidates

 6  on the submitted list and request that a new list be submitted

 7  by the interview committee. The executive director shall

 8  perform those duties and responsibilities specific to the

 9  Board of Dentistry and shall exclusively serve the Board of

10  Dentistry. The board shall monitor the performance of the

11  executive director, based on established performance standards

12  and should the board determine, by a majority vote, that the

13  performance of the executive director is consistently below

14  the performance standards of the board and thus unacceptable,

15  the board shall promptly notify the department of its

16  findings, in writing, and the department shall take

17  appropriate action to replace the executive director, pursuant

18  to the state personnel rules.

19         (2)  The executive director shall be responsible for

20  overseeing the hiring of all other staff members who work

21  directly for the executive director and who perform services

22  for the board.

23         (3)  The department shall contract for a dental intake

24  officer when requested by the Board of Dentistry in accordance

25  with the state personnel system and qualifications established

26  for such position by the Board of Dentistry. The

27  qualifications for the position shall include a requirement

28  that the candidate be a licensed Florida dentist in good

29  standing.

30         (4)  The dental intake officer shall be responsible for

31  determining the legal sufficiency of all dental complaints

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    Florida Senate - 2003                           CS for SB 2144
    317-2258-03




 1  received by the department within 5 working days after the

 2  complaint is filed; advising the board regarding dental health

 3  regulation issues; and advising field investigators on dental

 4  issues related to the complaints to assure that complaints are

 5  properly investigated in a timely and efficacious manner.

 6         (5)  The Board of Dentistry, in consultation with the

 7  department, shall establish reasonable and comprehensive

 8  performance parameters for the prosecution of disciplinary

 9  cases by the department. Such parameters shall reflect the

10  quality and quantity of services to be provided to the board,

11  including, but not limited to, the proportion of cases that

12  are successfully prosecuted through final hearing and appeal

13  if such cases involve irremediable harm or injury or the

14  immediate threat of irremediable harm or injury to the

15  patient. The board shall conduct an annual evaluation to

16  determine if the department has met the established

17  performance parameters. A finding by the board that the

18  department has failed to meet established parameters shall

19  enable the board, by a majority vote, to instruct the

20  department to retain sufficient outside contractual

21  prosecutorial services pursuant to s. 287.057(3), to fulfill

22  the immediate and forseeable prosecutorial needs of the board.

23  Contract negotiations and vendor selection shall be conducted

24  in consultation with the chairman of the board or his

25  designee. Contracts for prosecutorial services may not be

26  executed by the department until such contract is jointly

27  approved by the board and the secretary. Each contract for

28  prosecutorial services shall include, at a minimum, the

29  performance parameters developed by the board for its

30  assessment of the department.

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    Florida Senate - 2003                           CS for SB 2144
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 1         (6)  If requested, a representative of testing services

 2  of the Department of Health shall appear before the board, or

 3  a committee of the board, following the completion of each

 4  examination cycle to discuss examination issues. If the board

 5  identifies issues to be addressed, testing services shall

 6  report to the board, as requested at the next board meeting,

 7  on its progress in addressing the issues identified by the

 8  board.

 9         (7)(a)  In conjunction with each fiscal year budgetary

10  cycle, the department, in consultation with the board, shall

11  develop a Board of Dentistry spending plan encompassing

12  anticipated revenue of all types along with all anticipated

13  operating expenses of the board and associated support

14  services of the department, which shall include all direct and

15  allocated expenses necessary to enable the board to fulfill

16  its responsibilities. All expenditure detail as provided

17  herein shall reflect the methodology and calculations of the

18  department in allocating common expenses among all regulatory

19  boards.

20         (b)  The Board of Dentistry shall have spending

21  authority over discretionary budgetary items, as determined by

22  the department and the board jointly. Discretionary budgetary

23  items shall include the selection of board meeting venue,

24  hotel facilities, and accommodations; travel of board members

25  and necessary staff to all meetings of the board; attendance

26  by board members at meetings and conferences deemed to be

27  important by the board in fulfilling its responsibilities,

28  monitoring performance, and confirming the accuracy of

29  information provided to the board or others which relates to

30  the duties and responsibilities of the board; and an

31  operational contingency. Operational contingency is that

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    Florida Senate - 2003                           CS for SB 2144
    317-2258-03




 1  portion of cash on hand that exceeds that required for the

 2  5-year spending plan as described in s. 456.005. The

 3  operational contingency may be used for a special project by

 4  the board in fulfilling its responsibilities if a deficit does

 5  not or would not exist for the profession. In exercising its

 6  spending authority over discretionary budget items, the board

 7  must adhere to all applicable state laws and directives;

 8  assure that all meeting locations are accessible to the public

 9  and licensees; assure that board meetings are conducted in an

10  effective and efficient manner for the public and licensees;

11  assure that the minimal number of board members or staff

12  attend any meeting or conference; and assure the maximum use

13  of technology. When requested by the board, the department

14  shall provide timely procurement assistance to facilitate all

15  discretionary expenditures of the board.

16         (8)(a)  The department shall submit a report to the

17  Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the

18  House of Representatives by November 1 of each year on the

19  effectiveness and efficiency of this section, including:

20         1.  The revenues, expenditures, and cash balances for

21  the prior year, and a review of the adequacy of existing

22  revenues;

23         2.  The nature and extent of all services provided to

24  the board by the department;

25         3.  The total cost allocated by the department for each

26  service provided by the department to the board and the amount

27  and percent by which each cost is appropriate to dentistry's

28  pro-rata share of the total cost of such services provided by

29  the department to all affected boards, councils, and

30  professions;

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    Florida Senate - 2003                           CS for SB 2144
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 1         4.  The number of licensure examinations taken, the

 2  fees collected for licensure examination, and the time from

 3  which a candidate for licensure completed the required

 4  examination to the time in which the candidate received the

 5  results;

 6         5.  The number of licenses issued, revoked, or

 7  suspended;

 8         6.  The number of disciplinary complaints received,

 9  determined to be legally sufficient, investigated, referred to

10  the board's probable cause panel, prosecuted, subject to final

11  board action, and appealed; the number, maximum, and average

12  duration of licenses suspended; the number of licenses

13  revoked; the number of cases spanning more than 180,270, and

14  365 days from receipt of complaints to submission to the

15  board's probable cause panel; the proportion of cases which

16  were eligible for and the number of cases actually resolved by

17  citation; the proportion of cases where probable cause was

18  found; the number of cases were probable cause was found that

19  were not prosecuted or that did not result in stipulated

20  agreements; the number of cases involving stipulated

21  agreements; the number of cases involving stipulated

22  agreements which were changed by the board and the number of

23  cases involving stipulated agreements that were rejected

24  without modification by the board; the number of cases taking

25  in excess of 1 year from the date of receipt of a complaint to

26  final board action; the number of cases involving formal

27  hearings; the status of all cases appealed; the number of

28  cases where licensure suspension or revocation was stayed

29  pending appeal; the number of emergency suspension orders

30  issued; the average and maximum range of costs of complaint

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    Florida Senate - 2003                           CS for SB 2144
    317-2258-03




 1  investigations and prosecutions; and the amount of fines and

 2  expenses collected by type of cases prosecuted;

 3         7.  The status of the development and implementation of

 4  rules providing for disciplinary guidelines pursuant to s.

 5  456.079; and

 6         8.  Such recommendations for administrative and

 7  statutory changes necessary to facilitate efficient and

 8  cost-effective operation of the board and the department.

 9         (b)  The department shall include in the report any

10  statement, comment, suggestion, recommendation, or objection

11  made by the board in response to the report.

12         Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2003.

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    Florida Senate - 2003                           CS for SB 2144
    317-2258-03




 1          STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
                       COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
 2                         Senate Bill 2144

 3                                 

 4  The Committee Substitute makes the following changes:

 5  -    Revises the procedures for employment and retention of an
         executive director for the Board of Dentistry and board
 6       support staff;

 7  -    Requires the employment of a Florida-licensed dentist as
         a dental intake officer when requested by the board, with
 8       specified responsibilities;

 9  -    Requires the Board of Dentistry to establish, in
         consultation with the Department of Health, performance
10       parameters for the prosecution of disciplinary cases by
         the department or any contract vendors for prosecutorial
11       services;

12  -    Establishes a mechanism for contractual prosecutorial
         services for the Board of Dentistry cases;
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    -    Creates a formal procedure for the Board of Dentistry to
14       address dental examination issues with the Department of
         Health;
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    -    Establishes fiscal and budget procedures for spending
16       involving the Board of Dentistry and the board is granted
         spending authority over discretionary budgetary items;
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    -    Requires the Department of Health to create a report for
18       submission to the Governor and Legislature along with a
         response from the Board of Dentistry; and
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    -    The effective date is changed from October 1, 2003, to
20       July 1, 2003.

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