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1     AN ACT concerning professional regulation.
 
2     Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
 
4     Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Truth
5 in Health Care Professional Services Act.
 
6     Section 5. Purpose. The General Assembly hereby finds and
7 declares that:
8     (a) There are widespread differences regarding the
9 training and qualifications required to earn the professional
10 degrees. These differences often concern the training and
11 skills necessary to correctly detect, diagnose, prevent, and
12 treat illness or health care conditions.
13     (b) There is a compelling State interest in patients being
14 promptly and clearly informed of the training and
15 qualifications of the health care professionals who provide
16 health care services.
17     (c) There is a compelling State interest in the public
18 being protected from potentially misleading and deceptive
19 health care advertising that might cause patients to have undue
20 expectations regarding their treatment and outcome.
 
21     Section 10. Definitions. For purposes of this Act:
22     "Advertisement" denotes any communication or statement,

 

 

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1 whether printed, electronic, or oral, that names the health
2 care professional in relation to his or her practice,
3 profession, or institution in which the individual is employed,
4 volunteers, or otherwise provides health care services. This
5 includes business cards, letterhead, patient brochures,
6 e-mail, Internet, audio, and video, and any other communication
7 or statement used in the course of business.
8     "Deceptive" or "misleading" includes, but is not limited
9 to, any advertisement or affirmative communication or
10 representation for health care services that misstates,
11 falsely describes, or falsely represents the health care
12 professional's skills, training, expertise, education, board
13 certification, or licensure.
14     "Health care professional" means any person who treats
15 human ailments and is subject to licensure or regulation by the
16 State, including students and residents.
17     "Licensee" means a health care professional who holds an
18 active license with the licensing board governing his or her
19 practice in this State.
 
20     Section 15. Requirements.
21     (a) An advertisement for health care services must identify
22 the type of license held by the health care professional
23 advertising or providing services pursuant to the definitions,
24 titles, and initials authorized under his or her licensing Act
25 or examination designations required for licensure under his or

 

 

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1 her licensing Act. The advertisement shall be free from any and
2 all deceptive or misleading information.
3     (b) A health care professional providing health care
4 services in this State must conspicuously post and
5 affirmatively communicate the professional's specific
6 licensure by doing the following:
7         (1) The health care professional shall wear a name tag
8     during all patient encounters that clearly identifies the
9     type of license held by the health care professional,
10     unless precluded by adopted sterilization or isolation
11     protocols. The name tag shall be of sufficient size and be
12     worn in a conspicuous manner so as to be visible and
13     apparent;
14         (2) If the health care professional has an office in
15     which he or she sees current or prospective patients, then
16     the health care professional shall display in his or her
17     office a writing that clearly identifies the type of
18     license held by the health care professional. The writing
19     must be of sufficient size so as to be visible and apparent
20     to all current and prospective patients; and
21         (3) The health care professional must only use the
22     licensure titles or initials authorized by his or her
23     licensing Act, examination designations required for
24     licensure under his or her licensing Act, or the titles
25     authorized by the professional licensing Act for students
26     in training.

 

 

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1     A health care professional who practices in more than one
2 office shall comply with these requirements in each practice
3 setting.
4     (c) Health care professionals working in non-patient care
5 settings, and who do not have any direct patient care
6 interactions, are not subject to the provisions of subsection
7 (b) of this Section.
8     (d) Under this Section, a health care professional who is a
9 student or resident and does not have a state license shall
10 only be required to wear a name tag that clearly identifies
11 himself or herself by name and as a student or resident, as
12 authorized by the professional licensing Act.
 
13     Section 20. Violations and enforcement.
14     (a) Failure to comply with any provision under this Section
15 shall constitute a violation under this Act.
16     (b) Each day this Act is violated shall constitute a
17 separate offense and shall be punishable as such.
18     (c) Any health care professional who violates any provision
19 of this Act is guilty of unprofessional conduct and subject to
20 disciplinary action under the appropriate provisions of the
21 specific Act governing that health care profession.
 
22     Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are
23 severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.
 
24     Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1,

 

 

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1 2010.