SENATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION No. 36

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  JANUARY 27, 2020

     The Senate Commerce Committee reports favorably Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 845.

     This concurrent resolution urges the federal government to make the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) available to state health care professional boards without cost.

     The NPDB provides information on adverse actions against health care practitioners.  The information is not available to the public, but state professional licensing boards may access its information for a fee of two dollars per search.  Record searches performed through the NPDB offer critical information to state professional licensing boards, which make decisions regarding the licensure or continued licensure of certain health care practitioners within the state.

     Many boards do not regularly perform record searches to determine if applicants for licensure or licensed practitioners have faced any adverse actions.  Without regular record searches, boards may be unaware of adverse actions that may otherwise lead to the denial of an application for licensure or the revocation of licensure. 

     The NPDB’s two dollar fee for record searches represents a barrier to the regular use of the database.  By providing state professional licensing boards with free access to the database, the federal government can help improve patient safety in New Jersey and throughout the United States.

      This bill was pre-filed for introduction in the 2020-2021 session pending technical review.  As reported, the bill includes the changes required by technical review, which has been performed.