GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2011
H 2
HOUSE BILL 331
Committee Substitute Favorable 3/22/11
Short Title: Allow PAs and NPs to Sign Death Cert. |
(Public) |
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Referred to: |
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March 14, 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.
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, an 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.
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.