Florida Senate - 2024                                    SB 1108
       
       
        
       By Senator Rodriguez
       
       
       
       
       
       40-00900B-24                                          20241108__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to clinical laboratory personnel;
    3         amending s. 483.809, F.S.; deleting requirements that
    4         the Department of Health conduct examinations for
    5         clinical laboratory personnel licensure and register
    6         clinical laboratory trainees; deleting the requirement
    7         that the Board of Clinical Laboratory Personnel
    8         approve training curricula for licensure of clinical
    9         laboratory personnel; repealing s. 483.811, F.S.,
   10         relating to approval of laboratory personnel training
   11         programs; amending s. 483.823, F.S.; requiring that
   12         applicants for licensure as a technologist or
   13         technician who meet specified criteria be deemed to
   14         have satisfied minimum qualifications for licensure,
   15         as applicable; amending ss. 483.800, 483.803, and
   16         483.807, F.S.; conforming provisions to changes made
   17         by the act; making technical changes; providing an
   18         effective date.
   19          
   20  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   21  
   22         Section 1. Section 483.809, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   23  read:
   24         483.809 Licensure; examinations; registration of trainees;
   25  approval of curricula.—
   26         (1) LICENSING.—The department shall provide biennial
   27  licensure of all clinical laboratory personnel who the board
   28  certifies have met the requirements of this part. The license of
   29  any person who fails to pay a required fee or otherwise fails to
   30  qualify within 60 days after the date of expiration of such
   31  license shall be automatically canceled without notice or
   32  further proceedings unless the individual has made application
   33  for inactive status pursuant to s. 483.819.
   34         (2) EXAMINATIONS.—The department shall conduct examinations
   35  required by board rules to determine in part the qualification
   36  of clinical laboratory personnel for licensure. The board by
   37  rule may designate a national certification examination that may
   38  be accepted in lieu of state examination for clinical laboratory
   39  personnel or public health scientists.
   40         (3) REGISTRATION OF TRAINEES.—The department shall provide
   41  for registration of clinical laboratory trainees who are
   42  enrolled in a training program approved pursuant to s. 483.811,
   43  which registration may not be renewed except upon special
   44  authorization of the board.
   45         (4) APPROVAL OF CURRICULUM IN SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES.—The
   46  board may approve the curriculum in schools and colleges
   47  offering education and training leading toward qualification for
   48  licensure under this part.
   49         Section 2. Section 483.811, Florida Statutes, is repealed.
   50         Section 3. Subsections (3) and (4) are added to section
   51  483.823, Florida Statutes, to read:
   52         483.823 Qualifications of clinical laboratory personnel.—
   53         (3)Except as otherwise provided in s. 483.812, a
   54  technologist or technician applicant for licensure who satisfies
   55  the requirements in 42 C.F.R. s. 493.1489 to perform high
   56  complexity testing is deemed to have satisfied the minimum
   57  qualifications for licensure under this part to perform high
   58  complexity testing as a technologist or technician in this
   59  state.
   60         (4)Except as otherwise provided in s. 483.812, a
   61  technician applicant for licensure who satisfies the
   62  requirements in 42 C.F.R. s. 493.1423 to perform moderate
   63  complexity testing is deemed to have satisfied the minimum
   64  qualifications for licensure under this part to perform moderate
   65  complexity testing as a technician in this state.
   66         Section 4. Section 483.800, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   67  read:
   68         483.800 Declaration of policy and statement of purpose.—The
   69  purpose of this part is to protect the public health, safety,
   70  and welfare of the people of this state from the hazards of
   71  improper performance by clinical laboratory personnel. Clinical
   72  laboratories provide essential services to practitioners of the
   73  healing arts by furnishing vital information that is essential
   74  to a determination of the nature, cause, and extent of the
   75  condition involved. Unreliable and inaccurate reports may cause
   76  unnecessary anxiety, suffering, and financial burdens and may
   77  even contribute directly to death. The protection of public and
   78  individual health requires the licensure of clinical laboratory
   79  personnel who meet minimum requirements for safe practice. The
   80  Legislature finds that laboratory testing technology continues
   81  to advance rapidly. The Legislature also finds that a hospital
   82  training program under the direction of the hospital clinical
   83  laboratory director offers an opportunity for individuals
   84  already trained in health care professions to expand the scope
   85  of their careers. The Legislature further finds that there is an
   86  immediate need for properly trained personnel to ensure patient
   87  access to testing. Therefore, the Legislature recognizes the
   88  patient-focused benefits of hospital-based training for
   89  laboratory and nonlaboratory personnel for testing within
   90  hospitals and commercial laboratories and recognizes the
   91  benefits of a training program approved by the Board of Clinical
   92  Laboratory Personnel under the direction of the hospital
   93  clinical laboratory director.
   94         Section 5. Subsection (5) of section 483.803, Florida
   95  Statutes, is amended to read:
   96         483.803 Definitions.—As used in this part, the term:
   97         (5) “Clinical laboratory trainee” means any person having
   98  qualifying education who is enrolled in a clinical laboratory
   99  training program approved pursuant to s. 483.811 and who is
  100  seeking experience required to meet minimum qualifications for
  101  licensing in this state. Trainees may perform procedures under
  102  direct and responsible supervision of duly licensed clinical
  103  laboratory personnel, but they may not report test results.
  104         Section 6. Subsections (1), (3), (8), and (9) of section
  105  483.807, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
  106         483.807 Fees; establishment; disposition.—
  107         (1) The board shall establish, by rule, shall establish
  108  fees to be paid for application, examination, reexamination,
  109  licensing and renewal, registration, laboratory training program
  110  application, reinstatement, and recordmaking and recordkeeping.
  111  The board may also establish, by rule, a delinquency fee. The
  112  board shall establish fees that are adequate to ensure the
  113  continued operation of the board and to fund the proportionate
  114  expenses incurred by the department in carrying out its
  115  licensure and other related responsibilities under this part.
  116  Fees must shall be based on departmental estimates of the
  117  revenue required to implement this part and the provisions of
  118  law with respect to the regulation of clinical laboratory
  119  personnel.
  120         (3)The examination fee shall be in an amount which covers
  121  the costs of obtaining and administering the examination and
  122  shall be refunded if the applicant is found ineligible to sit
  123  for the examination. The combined fees for initial application
  124  and examination may not exceed $200 plus the actual per
  125  applicant cost to the department for developing, administering,
  126  or procuring the licensure examination.
  127         (8)The initial application fee for registration of a
  128  trainee shall not exceed $20.
  129         (9) The initial application and renewal fee for approval as
  130  a laboratory training program may not exceed $300. The fee for
  131  late filing of a renewal application shall be $50.
  132         Section 7. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.