Amendment #1 to H3944

Boards of Licensure

Representatives Farley-Bouvier of Pittsfield and Benson of Lunenburg move to amend the bill in line 8 of Section 16 by inserting after the word “department”  the following text

“The department shall work in conjunction with the respective boards of licensure to annually determine each practitioner’s schedule II and schedule III opiate prescribing quantity and volume and the practitioner’s standing with regard to the mean and median quantity and volume for the practitioner’s category of specialty or practice type; provided, however, that the practitioner’s standing shall be expressed as a percentile ranking for the practitioner within the practitioner’s category. Each practitioner whose prescribing exceeds the mean or median within the practitioner’s category shall be sent notice of the practitioner’s percentile ranking in a manner determined by the department. The ranking determined for each practitioner shall be distributed by the department or by the relevant board of licensure only to the practitioner to which the information pertains and this information shall be confidential, not considered a public record as defined in clause Twenty-sixth of section 7 of chapter 4, not subject to disclosure pursuant to chapter 66, not admissible as evidence in a civil or criminal proceeding and shall not be the sole basis for investigation by a licensure board.

The department shall also coordinate with the respective boards of licensure to make resources available to prescribers regarding ways to change prescribing practices and incorporate alternative pain management options into a prescriber’s practice.”