Sponsoring Entity Requirements

On September 23, 2010, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed AB 2699 (Bass, Chapter 270, Statutes of 2010), enacting Business and Professions Code Section 901 (hereinafter, "B" Code § 901"), effective January 1, 2011. This statute provides a framework for certain health care events that offer free care to un- or under-insured people through the participation of volunteer health care practitioners. Prior to this enactment, such health care events had no specific statutory regulation or requirements, and licensing laws precluded the participation of volunteers licensed outside of California. B&P Code § 901 defines "sponsoring entities," "sponsored events," and "health care practitioners," for these purposes and sets forth requirements for registration of sponsoring entities and authorization for participation by practitioners licensed in other states by the various healing arts boards responsible for California licensees.

A "Sponsoring entity" means a nonprofit organization organized pursuant to Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or a community-based organization.

Sponsoring Entity Registration and Recordkeeping Requirements

B&P Code §§ 901(d)—(g) sets forth requirements of "sponsoring entities." Sponsoring entities that intend to include participation by volunteers licensed in other jurisdictions must register with the boards responsible for licensing those volunteers' professions. The statute also requires that all sponsoring entities, whether or not they registered with boards for out-of-state participation, to file a report with all applicable boards after the completion of a sponsored event. Further, all sponsoring entities must maintain certain specified records.

The proposed regulation consolidates the requirements for sponsoring entities set forth in B&P Code §§ 901(d)—(g) and provides a registration form to be used by those sponsoring entities that will have out-of-state volunteers. The purpose of these is to implement the statute by providing direction and procedure to the sponsoring entities. The board reasons that by allowing delegation of the duty to collect and process the entity registration form to the Department of Consumer Affairs, entities having out-of-state volunteers from multiple disciplines will need only submit one registration form. The Department would then notify all applicable boards of the entity's registration. Because the statute does not contemplate a fee or other subjective criteria apart from the entity's status as a 501(c)(3) or community-based organization, it is reasonable to consolidate the registration this way.

Sponsoring entities are also required to maintain certain records in accordance with B&P Code § 901(g) that are to be available to the board. The proposed regulation specifies that these records must be on hand at sponsored events so that the board may ensure that these records are timely and complete. Specifically, the statute requires an attestation by each health care practitioner participating in the event that his or her license to practice is not suspended or revoked. The reason for proposing that this attestation be kept and available for inspection at the event is for the Board to further ensure that out-of-state licensees have made such a certification prior to actually providing the services, and thus protect the public from out-of-state practitioners that may pose a danger to patients.