Bill > SB500

This bill expands the scope of the Behavioral Health Care Workforce Data Base, renaming it the Health Care Workforce Data Base, to include data from a wider range of licensed health care professionals beyond those primarily treating mental health or substance use disorders. It revises the definition of "health care professional" to encompass any professional regulated by a licensing board, and significantly broadens the list of these licensing boards to include those for dentistry, chiropractic examiners, optometry, occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech-language pathology and audiology, podiatry, and licensed dietitians, in addition to existing boards for professional counselors, social workers, marriage and family therapists, nursing, medicine, psychology, and pharmacy, as well as the Department of Public Health. The bill also removes outdated definitions related to "addictive disease," "mental health or substance use disorder," and "mental illness." The purpose of this expanded data base is to collect and analyze information on the state's health care workforce, with the board tasked with creating and maintaining an online dashboard for public access to this data, and entering into agreements to facilitate its collection and dissemination.

Health and Social Services

https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73166