Bill > S1169

This bill amends Chapter 112 of the general laws to ensure truth in advertising for health care practitioners. It defines "advertisement" broadly to include any communication about a health care practitioner's practice, profession, or institution, encompassing everything from business cards to online content. "Deceptive" or "misleading" advertisements are defined as those that falsely describe a practitioner's profession, skills, training, expertise, education, board certification, or licensure. A "health care practitioner" is any person subject to licensure or regulation, and a "licensee" is a practitioner with an active license in the Commonwealth. The bill mandates that any advertisement naming a health care practitioner must clearly state the type of license held and be free of deceptive information. Furthermore, health care practitioners must conspicuously post and communicate their specific licensure, including wearing a photo identification name tag during patient encounters that displays their name, license type, and expiration date, and displaying a clear writing of their license type in their office. These requirements apply to all practice settings, and medical doctors or doctors of osteopathic medicine supervising non-physician practitioners must post their regular office hours. Practitioners in non-patient care settings without direct patient interaction are exempt. Failure to comply will be considered a violation of this act and Chapter 93A of the general laws, which deals with unfair and deceptive trade practices.