SENATE BILL 241
54th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2019
INTRODUCED BY
Gerald Ortiz y Pino
AN ACT
RELATING TO HEALTH CARE; AMENDING A SECTION OF THE DENTAL HEALTH CARE ACT TO ESTABLISH THE SITE OF TELEDENTISTRY.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. Section 61-5A-3 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1994, Chapter 55, Section 3, as amended) is amended to read:
"61-5A-3. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Dental Health Care Act:
A. "assessment" means the review and documentation of the oral condition and the recognition and documentation of deviations from the healthy condition, without a diagnosis to determine the cause or nature of disease or its treatment;
B. "board" means the New Mexico board of dental health care;
C. "certified dental assistant" means an individual certified by the dental assisting national board;
D. "collaborative dental hygiene practice" means a New Mexico licensed dental hygienist practicing according to Subsections D through G of Section 61-5A-4 NMSA 1978;
E. "committee" means the New Mexico dental hygienists committee;
F. "community dental health coordinator" means a dental assistant, a dental hygienist or other trained personnel certified by the board as a community dental health coordinator to provide educational, preventive and limited palliative care and assessment services working collaboratively under the general supervision of a licensed dentist in settings other than traditional dental offices and clinics;
G. "consulting dentist" means a dentist who has entered into an approved agreement to provide consultation and create protocols with a collaborating dental hygienist and, when required, to provide diagnosis and authorization for services, in accordance with the rules of the board and the committee;
H. "dental hygiene-focused assessment" means the documentation of existing oral and relevant system conditions and the identification of potential oral disease to develop, communicate, implement and evaluate a plan of oral hygiene care and treatment;
I. "dental assistant certified in expanded functions" means a dental assistant who meets specific qualifications set forth by rule of the board;
J. "dental hygienist" means an individual who has graduated and received a degree from a dental hygiene educational program that is accredited by the commission on dental accreditation, that provides a minimum of two academic years of dental hygiene curriculum and that is an institution of higher education; and "dental hygienist" means, except as the context otherwise requires, an individual who holds a license to practice dental hygiene in New Mexico;
K. "dental laboratory" means any place where dental restorative, prosthetic, cosmetic and therapeutic devices or orthodontic appliances are fabricated, altered or repaired by one or more persons under the orders and authorization of a dentist;
L. "dental technician" means an individual, other than a licensed dentist, who fabricates, alters, repairs or assists in the fabrication, alteration or repair of dental restorative, prosthetic, cosmetic and therapeutic devices or orthodontic appliances under the orders and authorization of a dentist;
M. "dentist" means an individual who has graduated and received a degree from a school of dentistry that is accredited by the commission on dental accreditation and, except as the context otherwise requires, who holds a license to practice dentistry in New Mexico;
N. "direct supervision" means the process under which an act is performed when a dentist licensed pursuant to the Dental Health Care Act:
(1) is physically present throughout the performance of the act;
(2) orders, controls and accepts full professional responsibility for the act performed; and
(3) evaluates and approves the procedure performed before the patient departs the care setting;
O. "expanded-function dental auxiliary" means a dental assistant, dental hygienist or other dental practitioner that has received education beyond that required for licensure or certification in that individual's scope of practice and that has been certified by the board as an expanded-function dental auxiliary who works under the direct supervision of a dentist;
P. "general supervision" means the authorization by a dentist of the procedures to be used by a dental hygienist, dental assistant or dental student and the execution of the procedures in accordance with a dentist's diagnosis and treatment plan at a time the dentist is not physically present and in facilities as designated by rule of the board;
Q. "indirect supervision" means that a dentist, or in certain settings a dental hygienist or dental assistant certified in expanded functions, is present in the treatment facility while authorized treatments are being performed by a dental hygienist, dental assistant or dental student;
R. "non-dentist owner" means an individual not licensed as a dentist in New Mexico or a corporate entity not owned by a majority interest of a New Mexico licensed dentist that employs or contracts with a dentist or dental hygienist to provide dental or dental hygiene services;
S. "palliative procedures" means nonsurgical, reversible procedures that are meant to alleviate pain and stabilize acute or emergent problems; and
T. "teledentistry" means either of the following:
(1) a dentist's use of health information technology in real time to provide limited diagnostic and treatment planning services in cooperation with another dentist, a dental hygienist, a community dental health coordinator or a student enrolled in a program of study to become a dental assistant, dental hygienist or dentist; or
(2) the practice of dentistry where the patient and the dentist are not in the same physical location and the dentist uses electronic information, imaging and communication technologies, including interactive audio, video and data communications as well as store-and-forward technologies, to provide and support dental health care delivery, diagnosis, consultation, treatment, transfer of dental data and education, where the originating site of teledentistry is the location at which the dentist provides the services."
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