Health professionals would follow stricter advertising and name-tag rules

Licensed and registered health professionals would have to identify their profession on advertisements and name tags and avoid false or misleading information. The rules cover electronic, printed, or spoken communications controlled by a professional or the professional’s staff, as well as identification badges worn during patient visits. The profession must be easy for readers to see on an advertisement or name tag. False or misleading information includes inaccurate claims about a professional’s field, skills, training, expertise, education, or certification. A person who is not a qualified physician could not present themselves as having a physician medical specialty or subspecialty. The section would not bar use of another title that the public health code otherwise allows.

A professional disciplinary subcommittee would be able to proceed under the health code when it finds a violation of the advertising and name-tag rules. This applies to licensees and registrants covered by the health professions law and to disciplinary proceedings handled under that law. The department must investigate an allegation and provide an administrative complaint to the appropriate disciplinary subcommittee before the subcommittee proceeds. A violation would be in addition to any violation of other health-code rules about advertising or name tags.