Page 10 - DMN2Q21

Legal Corner:
New Implicit Bias Training
Requirements for Michigan Health
Professionals
By: Kathleen A. Westfall, Esq,* Kerr, Russell and Weber, PLC
June 2021
Last year, in an effort to improve equity in the delivery of health care services, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer issued Executive Directive No. 2020-7. The Directive required the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) to promulgate rules to establish implicit bias training standards as part of the knowledge and skills necessary for licensure, registration and renewal of licenses and registrations of health professionals, including physicians, in Michigan.
Final administrative rules addressing the implicit bias training standards were filed with the Secretary of State and became effective June 1, 2021 (the “Final Rules”). This article provides a summary of the implicit bias training requirements set forth in the Final Rules.
Beginning June 1, 2022, an applicant for initial health professional licensure or registration other than a veterinarian (e.g., physicians, physician’s assistants, nurses, dentists, etc.)
is required to complete a minimum of 2 hours of implicit bias training within the 5 years immediately preceding issuance
of the license or registration. In addition, an applicant for renewal of a health professional license or registration other than a veterinarian are required to complete a minimum of 1 hour of implicit bias training for each year of the applicant’s license or registration cycle. For example, because a physician’s license must be renewed every 3 years on or before the issue date, beginning June 1, 2022, physicians must complete at least 3 hours of implicit bias training prior to submitting his or her application for licensure renewal.
The Final Rules define “implicit bias” to mean “an attitude or internalized stereotype that affects an individual’s perception, action, or decision making in an unconscious manner and
often contributes to unequal treatment of people based on race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation,
"For example, because a physician’s license must be renewed every 3 years on or before the issue date, beginning June 1, 2022, physicians must complete at least 3 hours of implicit bias training prior to submitting his or her application for licensure renewal."
10 Detroit Medical News Second Quarter 2021