State Codes and Statutes

Statutes > Nebraska > Chapter71 > 71-6221

71-6221. Regulation of health profession; change in scope of practice; when.(1) After January 1, 1985, a health profession shall be regulated by the state only when:(a) Unregulated practice can clearly harm or endanger the health, safety, or welfare of the public and the potential for the harm is easily recognizable and not remote or dependent upon tenuous argument;(b) Regulation of the profession does not impose significant new economic hardship on the public, significantly diminish the supply of qualified practitioners, or otherwise create barriers to service that are not consistent with the public welfare and interest;(c) The public needs, and can reasonably be expected to benefit from, assurance of initial and continuing professional ability by the state; and(d) The public cannot be effectively protected by other means in a more cost-effective manner.(2) If it is determined that practitioners of a health profession not currently regulated are prohibited from the full practice of their profession in Nebraska, then the following criteria shall be used to determine whether regulation is necessary:(a) Absence of a separate regulated profession creates a situation of harm or danger to the health, safety, or welfare of the public and the potential for the harm is easily recognizable and not remote or dependent upon tenuous argument;(b) Creation of a separate regulated profession would not create a significant new danger to the health, safety, or welfare of the public;(c) Creation of a separate regulated profession would benefit the health, safety, or welfare of the public; and(d) The public cannot be effectively protected by other means in a more cost-effective manner.(3) After March 18, 1988, the scope of practice of a regulated health profession shall be changed only when:(a) The present scope of practice or limitations on the scope of practice create a situation of harm or danger to the health, safety, or welfare of the public and the potential for the harm is easily recognizable and not remote or dependent upon tenuous argument;(b) The proposed change in scope of practice does not create a significant new danger to the health, safety, or welfare of the public;(c) Enactment of the proposed change in scope of practice would benefit the health, safety, or welfare of the public; and(d) The public cannot be effectively protected by other means in a more cost-effective manner.(4) The Division of Public Health shall, by rule and regulation, establish standards for the application of each criterion which shall be used by the review bodies in recommending whether proposals for credentialing or change in scope of practice meet the criteria. SourceLaws 1985, LB 407, § 21; Laws 1988, LB 384, § 7; Laws 1996, LB 1044, § 759; Laws 2007, LB296, § 653.