Texas has adopted new healthcare ID legislation
We've got the solutions your customers need to get compliant with Texas HB 2897 (2015).
Texas recently passed a law changing the requirements for healthcare employee ID badges. This represents a great opportunity for you to meet a need for your customers.
- Law applies to all personnel offering direct patient care
- Employees with a license must display their job title
- Perfect for companies selling into hospitals and nursing homes
Proper identification credentials have always been important in healthcare settings. However, in recent years, several states have begun to adopt stricter identification laws, mandating that employee ID badges include certain information, like an employee’s title. Texas is the latest state to pass such a law, with HB 2897 (2015) going into effect on September 1, 2015.
The passage of HB 2897 presents a great opportunity for our partners who sell into Texas: many hospitals will need to either update or overhaul their existing identification programs in order to be compliant with the new law. Brady People ID offers several different solutions that are perfect for meeting the needs of your Texas customers.
What is Texas House Bill 2897 (2015)?
Before you start offering your customers a solution to HB 2897 (2015), it’s important to understand what the law says.
Texas HB 2897 is also known in the Texas Senate as SB 1753. It is an act requiring specific healthcare workers to display their state licensed title on their ID credential while delivering care to patients. The spirit of the law is to make sure it’s clear to a patient who, exactly, is providing care in any given healthcare setting.
The law directly says “the identification badge of a healthcare provider…must clearly state” the worker’s licensed title.
The following titles are mentioned in the bill as being requirements on an ID credential:
- ACUPUNCTURIST, AUDIOLOGIST, CHIROPRACTOR, CLINICAL NURSE SPECIALIST, DENTAL HYGENIST, DENTIST, DIETITIAN , LICENSED VOCATIONAL NURSE, MASSAGE THERAPIST, MEDICAL PHYSICIST, MEDICAL RADIOLOGIC TECHNOLOGIST, MIDWIFE, NURSE ANESTHETIST, NURSE MIDWIFE, NURSE PRACTITIONER, OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST, OPTOMETRIST, ORTHOTIST, PERFUSIONIST, PHYSICAL THERAPIST, PHYSICIAN, PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT, PODIATRIST, PROSTHETIST, REGISTERED NURSE, RESPIRATORY CARE PRACTITIONER, SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGIST, SURGICAL ASSISTANT, THERAPEUTIC OPTOMETRIST
Texas HB 2897 (2015) adds to an existing list of Texas' healthcare ID requirements. Among other things, those existing requirements state that an ID badge must feature:
- The employee’s first or last name
- The hospital department in which the employee works
- The employee’s status as a student or intern (if necessary)
Badge Buddies are the perfect way for your customers to satisfy Texas HB 2897 (2015)
Healthcare institutions in Texas will already have an ID system in place due to previous laws. Therefore, many will be receptive to a solution that serves as a supplement to their existing program, rather than a complete overhaul. Fortunately, you can offer them the perfect product: Badge Buddies role-recognition cards.
- Badge Buddies are durable role-recognition cards that hang behind an existing ID credential. Badge Buddies are available in white or clear material, and feature bright colors and bold text to make a title clearly visible. Badge Buddies are slotted, and attach to an existing ID badge with a strap clip, lanyard or badge reel for a complete solution.
- A number of stock Badge Buddies, featuring popular medical titles like PHYSICIAN and NURSE PRACTITIONER, are in-stock and available to be drop-shipped to your customer immediately.
- Texas’ law features a number of unique titles. Fortunately, you can offer your customers custom Badge Buddies as well. You’ll be able to work with your customers to create Badge Buddies with the colors and titles they want.
- Badge Buddies kits are a great solution for a customer who wants to print his or her own Badge Buddies on-site. Our kits include a printer and Badge Buddies inserts, meaning your customer will be ready to design a solution for HB 2897 (2015) in no time.
Do your customers want to create new badges? You can help!
As we said above, many customers will just want a supplement to their existing ID card program in order to get compliant with Texas HB 2897 (2015). However, some organizations may use the law as the impetus to completely rebadge their employees. Brady People ID will help you meet those needs as well!
- We offer a broad selection of photo ID software, blank ID cards, ID card printers and card printer supplies to both get them up-and-running and keep them running smoothly into the future.
