A telephone medical advice service shall be responsible for complying with the following requirements:
(a) (1) Ensuring that all health care professionals who provide medical advice services are appropriately licensed, certified, or registered as a physician and surgeon pursuant to Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 2000) or the Osteopathic Initiative Act, as a dentist, dental hygienist, dental hygienist in alternative practice, or dental hygienist in extended functions pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 1600), as an occupational therapist pursuant to Chapter 5.6 (commencing with Section 2570), as a registered nurse pursuant to Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 2700), as a psychologist pursuant to Chapter 6.6 (commencing with Section 2900), as a naturopathic doctor pursuant to Chapter 8.2 (commencing with Section 3610), as a marriage and family therapist pursuant to Chapter 13 (commencing with Section 4980), as a licensed clinical social worker pursuant to Chapter 14 (commencing with Section 4991), as a licensed professional clinical counselor pursuant to Chapter 16 (commencing with Section 4999.10), as an optometrist pursuant to Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 3000), or as a chiropractor pursuant to the Chiropractic Initiative Act, and operating consistent with the laws governing their respective scopes of practice in the state within which they provide telephone medical advice services, except as provided in subdivision (b).
(2) Ensuring that all health care professionals who provide telephone medical advice services from an out-of-state location, as identified in paragraph (1), are licensed, registered, or certified in the state within which they are providing the telephone medical advice services and are operating consistent with the laws governing their respective scopes of practice.
(b) Ensuring that the telephone medical advice provided is consistent with good professional practice.
(c) Maintaining records of telephone medical advice services, including records of complaints, provided to patients in California for a period of at least five years.
(d) Ensuring that no staff member uses a title or designation when speaking to an enrollee, subscriber, or consumer that may cause a reasonable person to believe that the staff member is a licensed, certified, or registered health care professional described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a), unless the staff member is a licensed, certified, or registered professional.
(e) Complying with all directions and requests for information made by the department.
(f) Notifying the department within 30 days of any change of name, physical location, mailing address, or telephone number of any business, owner, partner, corporate officer, or agent for service of process in California, together with copies of all resolutions or other written communications that substantiate these changes.
(Amended by Stats. 2016, Ch. 799, Sec. 30. (SB 1039) Effective January 1, 2017.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018