Getting A Physician Health Program for California
Current Status
AB408
The Medical Board of California's efforts described below have succeeded: the detailed language describing the Physician Health and Wellness Program that the Board wants has been introduced into the 2025-2026 session of the legislature by Assembly Member Marc Berman. It is AB408. You can follow the progress of the bill HERE.
The Medical Board's 2024 Efforts
The quarterly meeting of the MBC on November 21-22, 2024 will include the language that the Board plans to propose as legislation to establish a new Physician Health and Wellness Program (PHWP) for California. The materials posted on the Board's website for the meeting include copies of the written statements submitted for the meeting of Interested Parties as well as a detailed history of the project, starting with the 1980 opening of the Board’s Diversion Program for Physicians.
The action the Board is expected to take on November 22 is to agree to find an author for a bill to be introduced into the legislature with the Board's propossed language and to appoint Board President Kristen Lawson and Board Vice President James Healzer, MD to continue to work with the MBC staff, the Legislature, and stakeholders to move forward with the proposal.
A copy of the 47-page background materials posted on the MBC website here: https://www.mbc.ca.gov/About/Meetings/Material/31402/brd-AgendaItem12-20241121.pdf includes a copy of the proposed language, comments from California Medical Association, the University of California Office of the President, the Consumer Protection Policy Center of the University of San Diego Center for Public Interest Law, CPPPH, and the Federation of State Physician Health Programs.
The Board published a first draft of its proposed language and held a meeting of “Interested Parties” on October 24 to invite public input. [A copy of the proposed language is HERE.]. Approximately 12 people spoke at the October 24 Interested Parties meeting, and all but two applauded the approach the Board is taking.
The proposed language will authorize a program based on the years of experience of physician health programs in other states and on the Guidelines from the Federation of State Physician Health Programs.
As reported, the current efforts began with the May 24, 2024 decision of the Medical Board of California to seek new legislation authorizing a physician health program (PHP) based on the evidence and experience of PHPs as espoused by the Federation of State Physician Health Programs rather than a program bound by the Uniform Standards that were put into law in 2008 with the passage of SB1441. The Medical Board voted to work toward a program in line with national best practices. For the full report of this MBC meeting and decision, see the June issue of the CPPPH Newsletter.
CPPPH Efforts to Get a Model Physician Health Program
CPPPH advocates for authorizing legislation and implementing policies and procedures that will provide California with a well-designed PHP in line with the principle that the Medical Board’s responsibility to protect the public should be exercised in ways that have been demonstrated to be effective.
CPPPH envisions a program of early intervention that will protect patients and maintain physician health – a program that supports health services for physicians with physical, mental health or addiction issues which, if undetected or not appropriately treated and monitored, could compromise the physician's ability to practice medicine safely.
A CPPPH Work Group, established in August of 2024, follows the stepwise efforts being made to make such a program available in California and shares information about the status of those steps in the CPPPH newsletters.
History
In the same year as the closure of the Medical Board of California’s Diversion Program for Physicians, 2008, we saw passage of SB1441 that put Uniform Standards into law as the foundation for any new program that would be proposed. In that year, the Pacific Assistance Group became an independent entity in the private sector and provided monitoring for organizations/hospitals that engaged their services.
After the closure of the Diversion Program, efforts to get a new program never stopped. California Medical Association, California Society of Addiction Medicine and CPPPH worked together on proposed legislation in 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2012 – all without success.
In 2016, SB1177 was passed authorizing the Medical Board of California to create a new program in line with the Uniform Standards and requiring that regulations be developed to govern the new program. The Medical Board prepared proposed regulations but they were never accepted; opposition came in public comments from differing points of view from the medical community and from the consumer protection community.
The turning point came on May 24, 2024 when the Medical Board of California voted to seek new legislation for a program based on the evidence derived from the experience of the physician health programs in other states and on the guidelines of the Federation of State Physician Health Programs.
More detail is available in the past issues of the CPPPH Newsletters. Each issue contains information about what was happening at the time that newsletter was published.