Panel to Review Licensing Terms for Impaired Health Workers

A legislative subcommittee will meet next week in Helena to discuss potential changes to state laws regulating medical professionals who have problems with drugs or alcohol.

The Medical Impairment Subcommittee of the Economic Affairs Interim Committee will meet Thursday, July 22, at 1 p.m. in Room 137 of the State Capitol. The public is welcome to attend and will have a chance to comment on the work of the subcommittee. An agenda is available at www.leg.mt.gov/eaic under “Meetings.”

The subcommittee members are Rep. Don Roberts, R-Billings (chair), and Rep. Chuck Hunter, D-Helena.

Among the issues the subcommittee will discuss are:

• whether professional assistance programs should be required by law to notify the appropriate licensing board when a medical professional is participating in the program;
• how to better maintain public safety when an impaired medical professional voluntarily joins a program to address impairment issues while still working in health care;
• whether to limit the number of times an impaired professional can participate in an assistance program; and
• whether a medical professional who is convicted of a felony should automatically lose the license to practice.

If the subcommittee agrees that changes are needed to licensing laws, it will make recommendations to the full Economic Affairs Interim Committee. The full committee may then decide to draft legislation for consideration during the 2011 session.

The meeting will be broadcast over the legislative Web site at www.leg.mt.gov.