HEALTH PROFESSIONS ACT - Alberta

1 HEALTHPROFESSIONSACTA new lawforregulatedhealthcareprofessionalsHE ALTH AND WELLNESS17209 cover5/3/02, 11:48 AM1 ISBN 0-7785-1558-317209 cover5/3/02, 11:48 AM2H e a l t h P r o f e s s i o n s A c t 1 Contents1 HEALTH PROFESSIONS 3A new law for regulated HEALTH care professionals .. 32 Why the HEALTH PROFESSIONS Act is 43 How colleges function under the HEALTH PROFESSIONS 54 7 Your accountability .. 7 Regulatory colleges and HEALTH PROFESSIONS .. 75 How the HEALTH PROFESSIONS Act Affects 11 professional services and restricted activities .. 11 Unregulated professionals performing restricted activities.

2 11 Registration of regulated HEALTH professionals .. 12 Demonstrating continuing competence .. 12 Protected titles .. 13 Discipline process .. 14 Alternative complaint resolution process .. 146 Need more information?.. 1617209 ALBHEA5/3/02, 11:49 AM12 H e a l t h P r o f e s s i o n s A c t17209 ALBHEA5/3/02, 11:49 AM2H e a l t h P r o f e s s i o n s A c t 31 HEALTH PROFESSIONS ActA new law for regulated HEALTH care professionalsIn May 1999, the Alberta Legislative Assembly passed the HealthProfessions Act (HPA) to regulate all 30 self-governing HEALTH legislation will require all HEALTH professional colleges to followcommon rules to investigate complaints and set educational and practicestandards for registered members.

3 The HPA will also increase publicrepresentation on college boards and in disciplinary a member of a regulated HEALTH profession, you will find the newlegislation affects your practice, your clients and the professionalorganizations you are affiliated with. The HPA provides new definitions,requirements and expectations for your scope of practice, registration,continuing competence and the disciplinary is a general guide to how the HPA affects all regulated healthprofessions. Your regulatory college will provide you with moreinformation about how the act will affect your profession, once yourprofession s regulations take ALBHEA5/3/02, 11:49 AM34 H e a l t h P r o f e s s i o n s A c t2 Why the HEALTH PROFESSIONS Act is importantUnder the HPA, Alberta s 30 regulated HEALTH PROFESSIONS will beexpected to meet the same requirements for governance, registration anddiscipline.

4 While regulated HEALTH PROFESSIONS will continue to governthemselves, the HPA lays out consistent rules by which all professionsmust provide safe and competent service to the HPA is important because: The public will have a better understanding of the accountability ofhealth professionals and their regulatory colleges through commonprocesses to register HEALTH professionals, investigate and resolvecomplaints, and discipline practitioners. HEALTH professionals will have more flexibility in how they practisebecause scopes of practice are no longer exclusive to a singleprofession. Who can perform restricted activities, or higher-risk procedures, willbe strictly enforced by the HPA.

5 Issues that affect HEALTH PROFESSIONS as a whole can be more easilyaddressed by the 1 - 9 of the act are common to all of the HEALTH professionsregulated under the HPA. These sections address such matters as: the establishment and governance of professional colleges initial registration and continuing competence of HEALTH professionals investigation of complaints and discipline and protection of professional 10 of the act contains profession-specific schedules for each collegeestablished under the HPA. A schedule sets out the HEALTH profession spractice statement and the profession-specific titles HEALTH professionalsmay use.

6 The practice statement describes the services generallyprovided by members of the HEALTH ALBHEA5/3/02, 11:49 AM4H e a l t h P r o f e s s i o n s A c t 53 How colleges function under the HEALTH PROFESSIONS ActThe HPA comes into force on a profession-by-profession basis as eachprofession s regulations are approved and its schedule under the actcomes into effect. At that point the profession s previous act or regulationwill be ensure a smooth transition, practitioners registered under previouslegislation will continue to be registered under the HPA. Disciplinaryactions that were initiated under the old system will be carried , bylaws, codes of ethics and standards of practiceBefore the HPA can apply to a profession, the regulatory college mustdevelop new regulations and bylaws, and ensure its code of ethics andstandards of practice are consistent with the new legislation.

7 Until then,the profession s old legislation and regulations will continue to address such things as: requirements for registration and annual practice permits continuing competence programs authority to provide restricted take effect only after government has approved direct the day-to-day operations of the colleges. Each professionalcollege has the authority to adopt bylaws without government of ethicsCodes of ethics are a set of guidelines and principles that govern theconduct of ALBHEA5/3/02, 11:49 AM56 H e a l t h P r o f e s s i o n s A c tStandards of practiceStandards of practice direct how professional services should and government responsibilitiesCodes of ethics and standards of practice do not require governmentapproval, but colleges must consult with government before are expected to consult their members when developing newregulations.

8 The HPA does not require practitioners to vote on or ratify Alberta government looks at the extent and result of how a collegeconsults with members and the department of Alberta HEALTH andWellness before deciding to approve regulations. A regulation does nothave to have universal support, but there must be evidence thatopposing views were heard and given proper ALBHEA5/3/02, 11:49 AM6H e a l t h P r o f e s s i o n s A c t 74 AccountabilityYour accountabilityAs a regulated HEALTH professional , you are accountable to a variety ofindividuals and organizations. You are accountable to your clients andthe organization that employs or hires you.

9 You are also accountable toyour regulatory college sets professional standards for registered members andensures that members meet those standards on an ongoing basis. Ifmembers fail to meet these standards, the college is also responsible forundertaking disciplinary you are not in private practice, you are also accountable to anemployer the organization that contracts your services, sets out yourresponsibilities, assesses your performance and pays for your of your collegeA college regulates the members of a HEALTH profession according tolegislation. Its primary role is to govern its Alberta , 28 colleges regulate 30 different HEALTH PROFESSIONS .

10 AcupuncturistsAcupuncture Committee of AlbertaAudiologists, SpeechSpeech Language and Hearing AssociationLanguage Pathologistsof AlbertaChiropractorsCollege of Chiropractors of AlbertaCombined Laboratory andAlberta College of Combined Laboratory andX-ray TechniciansX-ray TechniciansDental AssistantsAlberta Dental Assistants AssociationDental HygienistsAlberta Dental Hygienists AssociationDental TechnologistsAlberta Association of Dental TechniciansDentistsAlberta Dental Association and CollegeDenturistsAlberta Denturist SocietyHearing Aid PractitionersAlberta Hearing Aid Practitioners Association17209 ALBHEA5/3/02, 11.