Three new laws impacting the practice of medicine were recently passed by the Alaska State legislature. Importantly, these laws are expected to be signed by the Governor but are not yet effective at the time of writing this post. Senate Bill 91: Telehealth and Multidisciplinary Care Teams. This new law expands HB 265 that was passed in 2022. The changes now allow out-of-state physicians and multidisciplinary care team members to provide telehealth services when an Alaskan needs to receive ongoing treatment or follow-up care for a suspected or diagnosed life-threatening condition. Senate Bill 45: Direct Healthcare Agreements. This new...
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health: Abortion Laws and How Physicians Can Protect Themselves
The recent decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health by the U.S. Supreme Court has pushed the issue of reproductive health back to state legislators. As each state grapples with how it will deal with this issue, it has created tremendous uncertainty for the physicians who serve those communities. Physicians are caught in an impossible situation of trying to care for their patients while operating within the law – with boundaries that are less clear and well-defined as they have been for the past 50 years. As we have for the past 47 years, MIEC will continue to stand with...
Review of Bohn v. Providence Health Services Lawsuit
The Alaska Supreme Court recently interpreted a portion of the Alaska Healthcare Decision Act under Bohn v. Providence Health Services – Washington. While this is the first time the Court has interpreted the HCDA, its decision focused on a single provision of the statute, AS 13.52.080(a)(3). This provision grants immunity to health care providers declining to comply with a person’s health care decision so long as the provider “acts in good faith and in accordance with generally accepted health care standards” and so long as the refusal to comply is “based on a good faith belief that the person then...
Alaska: Advanced Practice Provider Laws and Regulations
Physician Assistants Qualifications [12 AAC 40.400]: Graduate accredited PA program; current NCCPA certificate. MD Supervision of Physician Assistant: Collaborative Plan as defined in 12 AAC 40.410(a)-(j), in part: PA may not practice without at least one collaborative relationship that is documented by a plan on a form provided by the medical board. Must include: Name, license number and specialty of primary supervising physician, at least one alternate collaborative physician, beginning date of employment, physical location of practice, compliance with 12 AAC 40.415 as it pertains to a remote location, and prescriptive authority granted by collaborating physician under the collaborative plan....
This supplement to our "Informed Consent Revisited" article contains excerpts from Alaska laws related to informed consent, consent by minors and special consents. Alaska physicians who have questions about a specific patient or who require legal advice may call MIEC’s Claims Office in Anchorage, AK at 907-868-2500. For general liability questions, physicians and their staff can call MIEC’s Patient Safety & Risk Management (PSRM) Office in Anchorage, AK at 907-252-4015 or the PSRM Department in Oakland, CA at 800-227-4527. Informed Consent In Alaska, the law on informed consent is derived largely from common law and statutes. Court decisions modify and...