HSC § 11834.025

(a) (1) As a condition of providing incidental medical services, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 11834.026, at a facility licensed by the department, the facility, within a reasonable period of time, as defined by the department in regulations, shall obtain from each program participant, a signed certification described in subdivision (b) from a health care practitioner.

(2) For purposes of this chapter, “health care practitioner” means a person duly licensed and regulated under Division 2 (commencing with Section 500) of the Business and Professions Code, who is acting within the scope of practice of their license or certificate.

(b) The department shall develop a standard certification form for use by a health care practitioner. The form shall include, but not be limited to, a description of the alcohol or other drug recovery or treatment services that an applicant needs.

(c) (1) The department shall adopt regulations, on or before July 1, 2018, to implement this section. The regulations shall be adopted in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code).

(2) Notwithstanding the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act, the department may, if it deems appropriate, implement, interpret, or make specific this section by means of provider bulletins, written guidelines, or similar instructions from the department only until the department adopts regulations.