STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2071
Honolulu, Hawaii
RE: S.B. No. 2678
S.D. 1
Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi
President of the Senate
Twenty-Eighth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2016
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 2678 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO DENTAL HYGIENISTS,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish a Board of Dental Hygienist Examiners to oversee the licensing and regulation of dental hygienists in the State, independent from the Board of Dental Examiners.
Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa; Hawaii Dental Hygienists' Association; and twenty-seven individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawaii Dental Association and one individual. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Board of Dental Examiners.
Your Committee finds that dental hygienists are preventative oral health professionals, licensed in the practice of dental hygiene, who provide educational, clinical, and therapeutic services and play an integral role in meeting consumers' oral health care needs. Furthermore, the dental hygienist profession continues to evolve due to integration of oral health into overall health, technological advances, health care reform strategies, and a continuing commitment to serving the health needs of the public. Dental hygienists, as educated, licensed professionals, are great assets to the community with a keen interest in promoting public health.
Your Committee further finds that the unique and valuable perspective of dental hygienists is currently underrepresented on the Board of Dental Examiners, with the current ratio being eight dentists to two dental hygienists. Accordingly, this measure proposes the establishment of a separate board to regulate and oversee dental hygienists in the State. A separate board would allow licensed dental hygienists to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public by ensuring only dental hygienists who are licensed and qualified are permitted to treat patients in Hawaii.
Your Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Amending the name of the new board proposed by this measure to the Board of Dental Hygiene, to more accurately reflect the intent of the proposed board;
(2) Clarifying that the composition of the Board of Dental Hygiene shall include, in addition to four dental hygienists, one dentist and two public members;
(3) Specifying that no person shall employ, direct, or otherwise order a dental assistant or other person to perform services or procedures within the scope of practice of dental hygiene, unless the person who performs the services or procedures is a licensed dental hygienist;
(4) Removing language that inadvertently gave the Board of Dental Hygiene the authority to revoke a dentist's license in certain circumstances, as the authority over dentists' licenses should remain with the Board of Dental Examiners;
(5) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2016, and providing that the initial appointments to the Board of Dental Hygiene shall be made by October 1, 2016, with the first meeting of the Board to be held in November 2016; and
(6) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2678, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2678, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health,
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________________________________ ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair |
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