TITLE 17. EDUCATION
CHAPTER 9. CAREER EDUCATION AND REHABILITATION
PART IV-B. LOUISIANA HEALTH WORKS COMMISSION
17:2048.51 Louisiana Health Works Commission; creation; membership; compensation; staff and facilities; powers and duties; data collection and reporting
A. There is hereby created in the Department of Education, under the jurisdiction of the Board of Regents, the Louisiana Health Works Commission, hereafter referred to as the "commission."
B. The purpose of the commission is to serve as a collaborative working group to integrate and coordinate resources relative to health care workforce development within various state departments and key organizations.
C. The following shall serve as members of the Louisiana Health Works Commission:
(1) The executive director of the Louisiana Workforce Commission or his designee.
(2) The secretary of the Department of Health and Hospitals or his designee.
(3) The president of the Louisiana Hospital Association or his designee.
(4) The executive director of the Louisiana Nursing Home Association or his designee.
(5) The chairman of the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare or his designee.
(6) The chairman of the House Committee on Health and Welfare or his designee.
(7) A representative of the governor's office selected by the governor who shall serve at the pleasure of the governor.
(8) The commissioner of higher education or his designee.
(9) The chairman of the Nursing Supply and Demand Council or his designee.
(10) The dean of the School of Allied Health Professions at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center at Shreveport or his designee.
(11) The chairman of the Louisiana State Board of Nursing or his designee.
(12) The president of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System or his designee.
(13) The president of the Louisiana Association of Independent Colleges and Universities or his designee.
(14) The chairman of the Medical Education Commission or his designee.
(15) The chairman of the Occupational Forecasting Conference or his designee.
(16) The presiding officer of the Interagency Task Force on the Future of Family Medicine or his designee.
(17) The chairman of the Louisiana State Board of Practical Nurse Examiners or his designee.
(18) The president of the Louisiana State Medical Society or his designee.
D. Members shall serve without compensation.
E. The Board of Regents shall provide the staff and facilities needed by the commission to accomplish its tasks.
F. Each group, organization, and agency shall submit the names of members to the Board of Regents.
G. There shall be an executive committee composed of the following:
(1) The commissioner of higher education or his designee for the commission.
(2) The chairman of the Nursing Supply and Demand Council or his designee for the commission.
(3) The presiding officer of the Interagency Task Force on the Future of Family Medicine or his designee for the commission.
(4) The dean of the School of Allied Health Professions at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center at Shreveport or his designee for the commission.
(5) The president of the Louisiana Hospital Association or his designee for the commission.
(6) The executive director of the Louisiana Nursing Home Association or his designee.
(7) The president of the Louisiana State Medical Society or his designee.
H. The executive committee shall:
(1) Elect the chairperson of the commission.
(2) Establish rules of procedure to be adopted in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act.
(3) Perform other tasks as the commission directs or the adopted rules of procedure require.
I. The commission shall meet at least once each calendar quarter unless the executive committee determines that there is no necessity for such a meeting.
J. The commission shall address the workforce issues in the health care industry in Louisiana, support the education of future health care workers, and work to improve the image of health care professions in Louisiana. The commission shall periodically report to the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare and the House Committee on Health and Welfare all accomplishments and recommendations of the commission including an annual report to both committees. The commission shall submit its annual report to such committees by February first of each year.
K. The commission shall study and make recommendations on at least the following workforce issues:
(1) Programs to recruit and retain health care professionals in the Louisiana workforce.
(2) Models for predicting the supply and demand for health care workers in the state.
(3) Incentives for health care workers to practice in Louisiana's medically underserved areas.
L. The commission shall study and make recommendations on at least the following education issues:
(1) Increasing the capacity of existing education programs to maintain or increase the supply of health care professionals in Louisiana.
(2) Incentive programs for faculty retention.
(3) Strategies to increase access of individuals to appropriate entry-level educational programs.
(4) Recruitment and retention models for students in the health care field.
M. The commission shall study and make recommendations on at least the following image issues:
(1) Promotional activities for health careers throughout the Louisiana K-12 school systems.
(2) Creative marketing strategies to improve the image of health care careers.
N. Nothing herein shall dilute the powers of the Medical Education Commission as established by the legislature in R.S. 17:1519.12. Nothing herein shall allow the Louisiana Health Works Commission the authority to negate recommendations by the Medical Education Commission unless approved jointly by the Senate and House health and welfare committees.
O. (1) The Board of Regents, the Health Works Commission, the division of administration, or any contractor working on behalf of these entities shall be authorized to request and receive licensing data, education data, and employment data, including unemployment wage records and other related health workforce data produced by state agencies, including the Louisiana Workforce Commission, the departments of economic development, education, and health and hospitals, obtained pursuant to the administration of this Chapter for any of the expressly stated following purposes:
(a) Compiling statistics which will be used to measure and track the supply of health care professionals from health care training providers, both public and private, including secondary programs, post-secondary programs conducted at community and technical colleges, four-year institutions, graduate schools, proprietary schools, hospital-based programs, and other state-approved training providers.
(b) Compiling employment statistics, which will be used to measure and track the supply and demand of health care professionals actually employed in the state of Louisiana as produced by the Louisiana Workforce Commission.
(c) Compiling statistics which will be used to measure and track the supply of licensed health care professionals as evidenced by licenses and renewed licenses granted by the health care professional boards of the state of Louisiana. Those boards affected shall include but not be limited to:
(i) Louisiana Board of Chiropractic Examiners.
(ii) Louisiana State Board of Dentistry.
(iii) Louisiana State Board of Examiners in Dietetics and Nutrition.
(iv) Louisiana Board for Hearing Aid Dealers.
(v) Louisiana Licensed Professional Counselors Board of Examiners.
(vi) Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners and related health professions under its jurisdiction.
(vii) Louisiana State Board of Nursing.
(viii) Louisiana Board of Examiners of Nursing Facility Administrators.
(ix) Louisiana State Board of Optometry Examiners.
(x) Louisiana Board of Pharmacy.
(xi) Louisiana State Board of Physical Therapy Examiners.
(xii) Louisiana State Board of Practical Nurse Examiners.
(xiii) Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists.
(xiv) Louisiana Radiologic Technology Board of Examiners.
(xv) Louisiana State Board of Social Work Examiners.
(xvi) Louisiana Board of Examiners for Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology.
(xvii) Louisiana Professional Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors Board of Examiners.
(xviii) Louisiana Board of Wholesale Drug Distributors.
(xix) Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals and the health professions under its jurisdiction.
(2) All data shall be submitted in a standardized format agreed upon by the Board of Regents, the Health Works Commission, and representatives of the affected state boards and agencies.
(3) Any individual data provided pursuant to this Subsection shall be confidential. No public employee, commission member, or contractor acting on behalf of a state agency or employee of such a contractor may:
(a) Use any data provided pursuant to this Subsection for any purpose other than the statistical, forecasting, and program purposes for which the data is furnished.
(b) Make public any of the data provided pursuant to this Subsection which would allow the identity of any individual to be inferred by either direct or indirect means.
(c) Retain any personal data as provided in this Subsection that is received by the Board of Regents and the commission or any contractor acting on behalf of the commission. Any personal data must be destroyed within thirty days of completion of its intended purpose as described in this Subsection.
(4) Any person who violates any provision of this Subsection shall be fined not less than one thousand dollars nor more than twenty thousand dollars or imprisoned for not less than thirty days nor more than six months, or both.
Added by Acts 2002, 1st Ex.Sess., No. 157, § 1. Amended by Acts 2003, No. 721, § 1. Redesignated as R.S. 17:2048.51 from R.S. 23:1871 and amended by Acts 2008, No. 534, § 1, eff. June 30, 2008. Amended by Acts 2010, No. 861, § 8; Acts 2012, No. 47, § 1.