Indiana Senate Approves Bill For Greater Transparency In Health Care Licensure And Advertising

The Indiana Senate voted to approve an amended version of Senate Bill 239 that aims to help Hoosier patients answer the question: Who’s who in health care? The vote sends the bill on practitioner identification and advertising to the House for consideration during the second half of the 2022 legislative session.

“Thanks to members of the Senate, Hoosiers are one step closer to seeing greater transparency in health care licensure,” said Elizabeth Struble, MD, a family medicine physician and president of the Indiana State Medical Association. “And we thank the bill’s authors, Sen. Kevin Boehnlein and Sen. Liz Brown, and their fellow co-authors, for providing the leadership to protect patients by helping them understand who is providing their health care.”

Provisions included in the bill as introduced would require that advertisements clearly state a health care professional’s license type; that an ID with license type be worn in appropriate clinical settings, and if applicable, include their status as a student, intern, trainee or resident; and that medical specialty designations be reserved only for physician specialists, such as anesthesiologist, dermatologist, cardiologist, etc.

Removed through amendment was any change to a health care worker’s ID badge.

However, an independent survey conducted in 2020 of Hoosier consumers found significant public confusion in the medical industry. For example, 25% of respondents, or one in four Hoosiers, were not confident which medical professional they saw the past few years.

Such confusion, according to the Indiana Physician Coalition, is caused by the “alphabet soup” of abbreviations that attempt to identify members of a patient’s health care team, such as MD, DO, APRN, NP, CRNA, PA, DNP, etc. Instead, the coalition supports a new law that would require identification in advertisements and on ID badges to be based on license type, such as physician, nurse practitioner, nurse anesthetist, physician assistant, and others.

“Using terms for providers based on license type allows Hoosiers to make a truly informed choice when seeking out options for health care,” said Carrie Davis, MD, a physician and dermatologist representing the Indiana Academy of Dermatology. “And in some clinical settings like urgent cares or hospitals, the patient may not have a choice in who provides their care, making immediate transparency of their title and qualifications on their name badge even more critical.”

The coalition hopes to continue working with representatives in the House to address any concerns and refine its provisions as the bill proceeds through the legislative process.

For more information on why Indiana Physician Coalition supports practitioner identification and advertising, download the coalition’s fact sheet on health care licensure transparency: https://bit.ly/3rP6PaM.