STAND. COM. REP. NO.903-02
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2002
S.D. 2
H.D. 1
Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twenty-First State Legislature
Regular Session of 2002
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce, to which was referred S.B. No. 2075, S.D. 2, entitled:
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this bill is to increase access to dental services and improve oral health in Hawaii by expanding the public health settings in which licensed dental hygienists are allowed to provide services without the direct supervision of a dentist.
Testimony in support of this bill was submitted by the Board of Dental Examiners (Board), Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Early Head Start of West Hawaii, Family Support Services of West Hawaii, Hawaii Dental Hygienists' Association, Hawaii Primary Care Association, and many concerned individuals. The Hawaii Dental Association and many concerned individuals testified in opposition.
Your Committee finds that this bill would expand the public health settings in which a dental hygienist may provide services, to include nursing homes, adult day care centers or assisted living facilities, mental institutions, and nonprofit health clinics. Your Committee finds that this bill would particularly assist the elderly, the poor, and persons living in rural areas who have limited access to dental care.
However, your Committee has reservations that this bill would expand the scope of practice of dental hygienists too broadly. Specifically, your Committee has concerns that the quality of dental care available to our community may be compromised by this measure.
Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Deleting hospitals from the list of public health settings in which dental hygienists may perform services;
(2) Removing dental screenings from the list of services that dental hygienists may perform in a public health setting;
(3) Providing that all services provided in a public health setting must be prescreened and authorized by a supervising licensed dentist;
(4) Specifying that dental hygienists performing in nursing home settings be limited to serving American Society of Anesthesiologists category I patients;
(5) Requiring dental hygienists to have completed four-hour courses in pharmacology and medical emergencies;
(6) Removing the provision calling for a Board study of the safety and efficacy aspects of implementation of the bill;
(7) Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion; and
(8) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2075, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to the Committee on Finance in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2075, S.D. 2, H.D. 1.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce,
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KENNETH T. HIRAKI, Chair |