STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 743 2017-2018 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 4, 2017 ___________ Introduced by Sen. RITCHIE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to registered dental hygienists working without supervision but within a collaborative practice agreement with a licensed dentist The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 6607-a 2 to read as follows: 3 § 6607-a. Practice of collaborative practice dental hygiene and use of 4 title "registered dental hygienist, collaborative practice" (RDH-CP). 1. 5 The practice of the profession of dental hygiene, as defined under this 6 article, may be performed in collaboration with a licensed dentist 7 provided such services are performed in accordance with a written prac- 8 tice agreement and written practice protocols to be known as a collabo- 9 rative practice agreement. Under a collaborative practice agreement, 10 dental hygienists may perform all services which are designated in regu- 11 lation without prior evaluation of a dentist or medical professional and 12 may be performed without supervision in a collaborative practice 13 setting. 14 2. (a) The collaborative practice agreement shall include consider- 15 ation for medically compromised patients, specific medical conditions, 16 and age- and procedure-specific practice protocols, including, but not 17 limited to recommended intervals for the performance of dental hygiene 18 services and a periodicity in which an examination by a dentist should 19 occur. 20 (b) The collaborative agreement shall be: 21 (i) signed and maintained by the dentist, the dental hygienist, and 22 the facility, program, or organization; 23 (ii) reviewed annually by the collaborating dentist and dental hygien- 24 ist; and EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD06283-01-7

S. 743 2 1 (iii) made available to the department and other interested parties 2 upon request. 3 (c) Only one agreement between a collaborating dentist and registered 4 dental hygienist, collaborative practice (RDH-CP) may be in force at a 5 time. 6 3. Before performing any services authorized under this section, a 7 dental hygienist must provide the patient with a written statement 8 advising the patient that the dental hygiene services provided are not a 9 substitute for a dental examination by a licensed dentist. If the dental 10 hygienist makes any referrals to the patient for further dental proce- 11 dures, the dental hygienist must fill out a referral form and provide a 12 copy of the form to the collaborating dentist. 13 4. The collaborative practice dental hygienist may enter into a 14 contractual arrangement with any New York state licensed and registered 15 dentist, health care facility, program, and/or non-profit organization 16 to perform dental hygiene services in the following settings: dental 17 offices; longterm care facilities/skilled nursing facilities; public or 18 private schools; public health agencies/federally qualified health 19 centers; correctional facilities; public institutions/mental health 20 facilities; and private settings in which homebound residents are unable 21 to be relocated for necessary treatment. 22 5. A collaborating dentist shall have collaborative agreements with no 23 more than six collaborative practice dental hygienists. The department 24 may grant exceptions to these limitations for public health settings on 25 a case-by-case basis. 26 6. A dental hygienist must make application to the New York state 27 education department to practice as a registered dental hygienist, 28 collaborative practice (RDH-CP) and pay a fee set by the department. As 29 a condition of collaborative practice, the dental hygienist must have 30 been engaged in practice for three years with a minimum of four thousand 31 five hundred practice hours and must complete an eight hour continuing 32 education program that includes instruction in medical emergency proce- 33 dures, risk management, dental hygiene jurisprudence and professional 34 ethics. 35 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.