Department of Health Professions
Studies

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Year / Number*	Title	Agency that conducted the study	Summary
1995 House Document 25	Outpatient Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation Facilities	Boards of Health Professions and Health	Study of the need to regulate outpatient cardiovascular and pulmonary rehabilitation facilities
1995	Need to License Art Therapists (.doc)	Board of Health Professions	Study of the need to regulate art therapists as a separate license or specialty under the Board of Counseling.
1995	Need to License Massage Therapists (.doc)	Board of Health Professions	Study of the need to regulate (licensure or certification) massage therapy under an existing board (certification under Nursing was recommended).
1995	Need to License Respiratory Therapists (.doc)	Board of Health Professions	Study of the need to establish licensure for respiratory therapists who had voluntary certification under the Board of Medicine.
1996	Alternative and Complimentary Medicine in Virginia (.doc)	Board of Health Professions	Study of alternative and complimentary medicine in Virginia to determine any barriers to access.
1996	Disclosure of Disciplinary Information on Health Care Providers (pdf)	Board of Health Professions	Study prompted by changes in law to public access to disciplinary information on health care practitioners and concomitant need to reevaluate disciplinary disclosure practices of boards.
1996	Need for Mandatory Continuing Medical Education (.doc)	Board of Medicine	Study of the need and efficacy of mandatory continuing education and continuing competency for practitioners of the healing arts.
1998 House Document 8	Appropriate Criteria in determining need for regulation of any health care occupation or profession	Board of Health Professions	Study reaffirmed the seven criteria established in 1991 for evaluating the need for regulation of a health care profession.
1998 House Document 18	Competition in the Funeral Industry	Board of Health Professions	Study of federal and state laws that address concerns about monopolization of marketshare in the cemetery and funeral industry.
1998	Practice of Telehealth across State Lines (pdf)	Board of Health Professions	Study to address the proper role, jurisdiction and operation of state regulation in dealing with practice across state lines.
1999 Senate Document 10	Regulation of Athletic Trainers	Board of Health Professions	Sunrise study of the need to regulate athletic trainers in Virginia utilizing the seven criteria established for such a review.
1999 Senate Document 9	Need to Regulate Pharmacy Technicians	Board of Health Professions	Study of need to regulate pharmacy technicians under the Board of Pharmacy.
1999	Practice of Spinal Manipulation	Board of Medicine	Study of the issue of spinal manipulation and whether there should be restrictions on its practice by physical therapists.
2000 House Document 10	Feasibility of Independent Board of Physical Therapy	Board of Health Professions	Study of the feasibility of establishing an independent board of physical therapy.
2000 Senate Document 8	Feasibility of Merging Boards	Board of Audiology & Speech-Language Pathology & Board of Hearing Aid Specialists	Study by DHP and DPOR of the feasibility of merging the two boards.
2000 House Document 13	Sale of Prescription Drugs over the Internet	Board of Medicine	Study the sale of prescription drugs in the Commonwealth over the Internet.
2000 Senate Document 5	Independent Board of Chiropractic	Board of Health Professions	Study of the efficacy of an independent board of chiropractic.
2000 Senate Document 6	Regulation of Speech-Language Assistants	Board of Health Professions	Study of the necessity of regulating the practice of speech-language assistants.  (The Board applied the criteria for regulation established in 1992 & reconfirmed by a 1998 Study.)
2000	Need to Regulate Clinical Laboratory Personnel	Board of Health Professions	Study in response to a petition from the Va. Society for Clinical Laboratory Science to review the need for regulation of various levels and types of clinical laboratory personnel.
2000	Reporting of Infectious Disease Status of the Deceased	Board of Health Professions	Study requested by the Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers to address concerns about lack of disclosure about infectious disease to the funeral service practitioner.
2001 Senate Document 7	Appropriate Level of Regulation for Certified Occupational Therapy Assistants	Board of Health Professions	Sunrise study utilized methodology detailed in Policies and Procedures for Evaluation of the Need to Regulate Health Occupations and Professions (1998) - recommended no state regulatory oversight.
2004 House Document 23	Practice Locations and Schedules of Drugs Authorized for Nurse Practitioners	Board of Nursing	Report on the practice locations for nurse practitioners with prescriptive authority and the schedules of drugs that they are authorized to prescribe by a practice agreement with a supervising physician
2004	Need to Regulate Assisted Living Administrators Appendix 1 - 3 Appendix 4 - 7 Appendix 8 Appendix 9 Appendix 10 Appendix 11 (PDF format)	Board of Health Professions	Study in response to request from the Board of Nursing Home Administrators to review the need for regulation of assisted living administrators
2005	Need to Regulate Naturopaths (PDF format)	Board of Health Professions	Study into the Need to Regulate Naturopaths in Virginia

* Number indicates that the study was requested by and reported to the General Assembly and is a House or Senate Document.