AB 1199
Medical staff: health care provider credentialing.
Vote required
Majority
Fiscal committee
No
Appropriation
No
Current location
Appropriations
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- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
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- Became Law
Bill overview
This bill requires general acute care hospitals and acute psychiatric hospitals (except those operated by the State Department of State Hospitals) to create and enforce a policy requiring all employees who have patient contact to wear an identification tag while on duty. The tag must display the employee’s name or license status in at least 18-point type, with options for displaying first and last name, first name and last initial, first initial and last name, or just first or last name. The bill also clarifies that no state reimbursement is required for local agencies due to the creation of a new crime.
Key provisions
- Requires hospitals to develop and implement an identification tag policy for employees with patient contact.
- Specifies that the identification tag must include the employee’s name or license status.
- Outlines acceptable formats for displaying the employee’s name on the tag (first/last, first/initial, etc.).
- Exempts acute psychiatric hospitals operated by the State Department of State Hospitals from the requirement.
- States that no state reimbursement is required for local agencies due to the creation of a new crime.
Who is affected
- Hospitals (general acute care and acute psychiatric)
- Hospital employees who have patient contact
- Patients in hospitals
Notable changes
- Clarifies the requirements for hospital employee identification tags, aligning them with professional licensing statutes.
Arguments in favor
Reasons to support this legislation.
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AB1199:v96#DOCUMENT
Bill Start
| Amended IN Senate June 09, 2025 |
| Amended IN Assembly May 01, 2025 |
| Amended IN Assembly March 17, 2025 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 1199
| Introduced by Assembly Member Patterson |
| February 21, 2025 |
An act to add Section 1257.55 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to health facilities.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1199, as amended, Patterson. Hospitals: employee identification.
Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to license and regulate health facilities, including, among others, general acute care hospitals and acute psychiatric hospitals. A violation of these provisions is a crime. Existing law requires a health care practitioner to disclose, while working, their name and license status on a name tag in at least 18-point type, subject to specified exceptions.
This bill would require general acute care hospitals and acute psychiatric hospitals hospitals, except those operated by the State Department of State Hospitals, to develop and implement a policy that requires all employees who have patient contact to wear an identification tag while on duty that contains prescribed information. By expanding the scope of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YES
Bill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(a) Existing professional licensing law requires health care practitioners to disclose their name and California license status on a name tag, with specified exceptions. One such exception applies to practitioners working in psychiatric settings, where safety concerns may warrant the absence of a name tag to protect staff from potential harm.
(b) Existing hospital licensing regulations require hospitals to implement a policy that requires all employees having patient contact to wear an identification tag while on duty. There are no exceptions to this requirement. The regulation does not specify whether the employee’s full first and last name must be printed on the name tag.
(c) To maintain the safety and privacy of hospital employees while maintaining workplace security and professional identification standards, the Legislature finds it necessary to align hospital licensing regulations with health care practitioner licensing statutes by allowing hospitals to implement policies that protect employee identity through clarified identification tag requirements.
(d) It is the intent of the Legislature to align hospital licensing regulations with health care practitioner licensing statutes by allowing hospitals to implement policies that protect employee identity through clarified identification tag requirements.
SEC. 2.
Section 1257.55 is added to the Health and Safety Code, immediately following Section 1257.5, to read:
1257.55.
(a) (1) A hospital shall develop and implement a policy that requires all employees who have patient contact to wear an identification tag while on duty.
(2) For purposes of this section, “hospital” means a general acute care hospital, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 1250, and an acute psychiatric hospital, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 1250. 1250, except for acute psychiatric hospitals operated by the State Department of State Hospitals.
(b) The name badge shall include, in 18-point type or larger, the employee’s vocational classification or California license status, and one of the following:
(1) The employee’s first and last name.
(2) The employee’s first name and last initial.
(3) The employee’s first initial and last name.
(4) The employee’s first name or last name only.
SEC. 3.
No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.