Code Section

2190.1.  

(a) The continuing medical education standards of Section 2190 may be met by educational activities that meet the standards of the board and that serve to maintain, develop, or increase the knowledge, skills, and professional performance that a physician and surgeon uses to provide care, or to improve the quality of care provided to patients. These may include, but are not limited to, educational activities that meet any of the following criteria:

(1) Have a scientific or clinical content with a direct bearing on the quality or cost-effective provision of patient care, community or public health, or preventive medicine.

(2) Concern quality assurance or improvement, risk management, health facility standards, or the legal aspects of clinical medicine.

(3) Concern bioethics or professional ethics.

(4) Are designed to improve the physician-patient relationship and quality of physician-patient communication.

(b) (1) On and after July 1, 2006, all continuing medical education courses shall contain curriculum that includes cultural and linguistic competency in the practice of medicine.

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1), a continuing medical education course dedicated solely to research or other issues that does not include a direct patient care component or a course offered by a continuing medical education provider that is not located in this state is not required to contain curriculum that includes cultural and linguistic competency in the practice of medicine.

(3) Associations that accredit continuing medical education courses shall develop standards before July 1, 2006, for compliance with the requirements of paragraph (1). The associations may update these standards, as needed, in accordance with the following requirements:

(A) The standards shall be updated in conjunction with an advisory group that has expertise in cultural and linguistic competency issues and is informed of federal and state statutory threshold language requirements, with prioritization of languages in proportion to the state population’s most prevalent primary languages spoken by 10 percent or more of the state population.

(B) The standards shall be updated to ensure program standards meet the needs of California’s changing demographics and properly address language disparities, as they emerge.

(4) A physician and surgeon who completes a continuing education course meeting the standards developed pursuant to paragraph (3) satisfies the continuing education requirement for cultural and linguistic competency.

(c) In order to satisfy the requirements of subdivision (b), continuing medical education courses shall address at least one or a combination of the following:

(1) Cultural competency. For the purposes of this section, “cultural competency” means a set of integrated attitudes, knowledge, and skills that enables a health care professional or organization to care effectively for patients from diverse cultures, groups, and communities. At a minimum, cultural competency is recommended to include the following:

(A) Applying linguistic skills to communicate effectively with the target population.

(B) Utilizing cultural information to establish therapeutic relationships.

(C) Eliciting and incorporating pertinent cultural data in diagnosis and treatment.

(D) (i) Understanding and applying culturally, ethnically, and sociologically inclusive data to the process of clinical care, including, as appropriate, information and evidence-based cultural competency training pertinent to the treatment of, and provision of care to, individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, asexual, intersex, or gender diverse. This includes processes specific to those seeking gender-affirming care services.

(ii) An evidence-based cultural competency training implemented pursuant to clause (i) may include all of the following:

(I) Information about the effects, including, but not limited to, ongoing personal effects of historical and contemporary exclusion and oppression of transgender, gender diverse, or intersex (TGI) communities.

(II) Information about communicating more effectively across gender identities, including TGI-inclusive terminology, using people’s correct names and pronouns, even when they are not reflected in records or legal documents, avoiding language, whether verbal or nonverbal, that demeans, ridicules, or condemns TGI individuals, and avoiding making assumptions about gender identity by using gender-neutral language and avoiding language that presumes all individuals are heterosexual, cisgender, or gender conforming, or nonintersex.

(III) Discussion on health inequities within the TGI community, including family and community acceptance.

(IV) Perspectives of diverse, local constituency groups and TGI-serving organizations, including, but not limited to, the California Transgender Advisory Council.

(V) Recognition of the difference between personal values and professional responsibilities with regard to serving TGI people.

(VI) Recommendations on administrative changes to make health care facilities more inclusive.

(2) Linguistic competency. For the purposes of this section, “linguistic competency” means the ability of a physician and surgeon to provide patients who do not speak English or who have limited ability to speak English, direct communication in the patient’s primary language.

(3) A review and explanation of relevant federal and state laws and regulations regarding linguistic access, including, but not limited to, the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 1981 et seq.), Executive Order 13166 of August 11, 2000, of the President of the United States, and the Dymally-Alatorre Bilingual Services Act (Chapter 17.5 (commencing with Section 7290) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code).

(d) (1) On and after January 1, 2022, all continuing medical education courses shall contain curriculum that includes the understanding of implicit bias.

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1), a continuing medical education course dedicated solely to research or other issues that does not include a direct patient care component or a course offered by a continuing medical education provider that is not located in this state is not required to contain curriculum that includes implicit bias in the practice of medicine.

(3) Associations that accredit continuing medical education courses shall develop standards before January 1, 2022, for compliance with the requirements of paragraph (1). The associations may update these standards, as needed, in conjunction with an advisory group established by the association that has expertise in the understanding of implicit bias.

(e) In order to satisfy the requirements of subdivision (d), continuing medical education courses shall address at least one or a combination of the following:

(1) Examples of how implicit bias affects perceptions and treatment decisions of physicians and surgeons, leading to disparities in health outcomes.

(2) Strategies to address how unintended biases in decisionmaking may contribute to health care disparities by shaping behavior and producing differences in medical treatment along lines of race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, socioeconomic status, or other characteristics.

(f) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), educational activities that are not directed toward the practice of medicine, or are directed primarily toward the business aspects of medical practice, including, but not limited to, medical office management, billing and coding, and marketing shall not be deemed to meet the continuing medical education standards for licensed physicians and surgeons.

(g) Educational activities that meet the content standards set forth in this section and are accredited by the California Medical Association or the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education may be deemed by the Division of Licensing to meet its continuing medical education standards.

(h) For the purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:

(1) “TGI” means transgender, gender diverse, or intersex.

(2) “TGI-serving organization” has the same meaning as set forth in paragraph (2) of subdivision (f) of Section 150900 of the Health and Safety Code.