adminLuckily, you don’t have to read through the more than 200 items in the July 19 Pennsylvania Bulletin to find out what you need to be aware of in new state regulations.
The Pennsylvania Medical Society (PAMED) will update you when you need to know about any upcoming regulations, but here are some items that may be of particular interest to you right now.
- Program Standards for Long-Term Care Facilities. The proposed regulations will align the countersignature requirements for long-term care facilities with Acts 100 and 101 of 2013, which give physicians the discretion to ease the current requirement that he or she countersign 100 percent of all patient records completed by a physician assistant. The proposed rule is scheduled to be released late summer 2014.
- Compounding Practices. The proposed rulemaking would establish standards for the compounding of drugs by pharmacists. An earlier draft of the rule prohibited physicians from purchasing drugs made in compounding pharmacies for the purpose of in-office use. PAMED expressed concern with the initial draft and hopes that the revised proposal will allow physicians who administer compounded medications in an office setting to order and purchase directly from the compounding pharmacy for proper prescribing and in-office use. The final regulation is scheduled to be released late summer 2014.
- Photo Identification Tag Regulations. Work on the Photo Identification Tag Regulations continues. This proposed regulation requires health care workers employed in health care facilities and physician practices to wear photo identification tags that also contain other information including name, title and name of the health care facility. The anticipated release of the proposed regulation is late summer 2014.
- Child Abuse Reporting Requirements. The Board of Medicine and the Board of Osteopathic Medicine propose updates to existing regulations on mandatory reporting of suspected child abuse under the Child Protective Services Law. The proposed regulations are scheduled to be released in fall 2014.
For a more detailed listing of the proposed rules that may impact the medical community, visit PAMED’s comprehensive blog on this topic. The blog provides an overview of both new and updated proposed regulations of importance to the medical community.