Bill Text: NC S191 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: LME Governance
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Enrolled - Dead) 2012-07-03 - Pres. To Gov. 7/3/2012 [S191 Detail]
Download: North_Carolina-2011-S191-Amended.html
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2011
S 2
SENATE BILL 191
Judiciary I Committee Substitute Adopted 3/21/11
Short Title: Death Certificate Signatures. |
(Public) |
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Sponsors: |
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Referred to: |
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March 3, 2011
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to authorize physician assistants and nurse practitioners to complete medical certifications as to the cause of death for death registration and to allow electronic or facsimile signatures on death certificates without specific approval by the state registrar.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1. G.S. 90‑18.1 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
"(e1) Any medical certification completed by a physician assistant for a death certificate shall be deemed to have been authorized by the physician approved by the Board as the supervisor of the physician assistant, and the supervising physician shall be responsible for authorizing the completion of the medical certification."
SECTION 2. G.S. 90‑18.2 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
"(e1) Any medical certification completed by a nurse practitioner for a death certificate shall be deemed to have been authorized by the physician approved by the boards as the supervisor of the nurse practitioner, and the supervising physician shall be responsible for authorizing the completion of the medical certification."
SECTION 3. G.S. 130A‑115(c) and (d) read as rewritten:
"(c) The medical certification shall be completed
and signed by the physician in charge of the patient's care for the illness or
condition which resulted in death, except when the death falls within the
circumstances described in G.S. 130A‑383. In the absence of the
physician or with the physician's approval, the certificate may be completed
and signed by an associate physician, a physician assistant in a manner consistent
with G.S. 90‑18.1(e1), a nurse practitioner in a manner consistent
with G.S. 90‑18.2(e1), the chief medical officer of the hospital
or facility in which the death occurred or a physician who performed an autopsy
upon the decedent under the following circumstances: the individual has access
to the medical history of the deceased; the individual has viewed the deceased
at or after death; and the death is due to natural causes. When specifically
approved by the State Registrar, anAn electronic signature or
facsimile signature of the physician physician, physician assistant,
or nurse practitioner shall be acceptable. As used in this section, the
term electronic signature has the same meaning as applies in G.S. 66‑58.2
or G.S. 66‑312. The physician physician, physician
assistant, or nurse practitioner shall state the cause of death on the
certificate in definite and precise terms. A certificate containing any
indefinite terms or denoting only symptoms of disease or conditions resulting
from disease as defined by the State Registrar, shall be returned to the person
making the medical certification for correction and more definite statement.
(d) The physician physician, physician assistant,
nurse practitioner, or medical examiner making the medical certification as
to the cause of death shall complete the medical certification no more than
three days after death. The physician physician, physician assistant,
nurse practitioner, or medical examiner may, in appropriate cases,
designate the cause of death as unknown pending an autopsy or upon some other
reasonable cause for delay, but shall send the supplementary information to the
local registrar as soon as it is obtained."
SECTION 4. This act becomes effective October 1, 2011, and applies to certifications signed on or after that date.