HB 199 Establish Standards for Surgical Technology
Primary Sponsors: Rep. Greg Murphy (R – Pitt), Rep. Donny Lambeth (R – Forsyth)
This bill would establish standards for surgical technology care in hospitals and ambulatory surgical facilities. If passed, this bill would require all surgical technologists to complete a program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs or another nationally accredited course of study.
Rep. Murphy presented the bill in the House on March 3, 2017 and provided data from other states that have implemented these standards. The data he cited shows that when standards such as those proposed in the bill are implemented there are 40 percent fewer adverse effects after surgery including a 55 percent reduction in foreign objects left in the patient, especially in obese patients and an 11 percent reduction in post-op site infections. This bill was amended on March 9, 2017 to require CME for surgical technologists be grandfathered in to the requirements of the bill.
This bill passed in the House on March 9, 2017 with a vote of 111-2, and has been sent to the Senate.
