Announcements

Invitation to Comment on Dental Hygienist Scope of Practice Review

On January 22, 2015 at 10:30 AM, the Board of Health Professions’ Regulatory Research Committee will hold a public hearing on its Dental Hygienist Scope of Practice review. Please view the Invitation to Comment here. Persons desiring to provide comment may wish to review the following document:

Summary of Staff Research to Date and Preliminary Policy Options.

Federal Rules in Place Regarding Dialysis Patient Care Technicians

In order to meet US Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) requirements for reimbursement for End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) services federal regulations effective April 15, 2010 require facilities' technicians who have been employed since October 14, 2008 to be certified within 18 months of their date of hire.

Virginia's statutes and regulations require certification within 24 months regardless of the payment system for End Stage Renal Disease services. The CMS rules requiring certification within 18 months apply to federal reimbursement.

Attached for your reference is an explanatory letter from October 2009 from CMS to State Survey Agency Directors. In the Commonwealth this is the function of the Virginia Department of Health.

http://www.cms.hhs.gov/SurveyCertificationGenInfo/downloads/SCLetter10_03.pdf

Dialysis patient care technician info

Attention: dialysis patient care technician trainees, supervising registered nurses, and other interested parties, information on provisional practice for persons receiving training to become dialysis patient care technicians is available on the Board of Health Professions' webpage on the Laws and Regulations page.