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Read. Follow. Verify.Iowa Senate File 210 Tightens Discipline, Licensing, and Reporting Rules for Health Professionals
Last action · February 5, 2025: Subcommittee: Rozenboom, Schultz, and Townsend. S.J. 203 .Sponsor: Janet Petersen
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What This Bill Would Do
Senate File 210 requires health licensing boards to check background registries and data banks before issuing licenses, mandates an integrated public online database of licensee disciplinary records by July 1, 2026, and imposes strict license suspensions or revocations for or criminal abuse offenses.
Licensed health professionals face mandatory license suspensions or permanent revocations for founded or criminal abuse charges, while employers, insurers, and the public gain broader access to disciplinary histories and mandatory reporting duties.
- State licensing boards in Iowa oversee professional standards, license issuances, and disciplinary actions for healthcare providers. context
- The National Practitioner Data Bank is a federal repository containing information on medical malpractice payments and certain adverse licensure actions. context
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Licensed health professionals
Must comply with mandatory reporting duties, face immediate suspension or revocation for specific criminal charges or founded sexual misconduct, and disclose probationary status to patients.
Health professional employers
Must submit information regarding all disciplinary actions taken against employed licensees to the relevant licensing board.
Insurance carriers
May receive copies of complaints against licensees from boards if the complainant gives express written permission.
Key Facts
- Prior to issuing a license, licensing boards must search the national practitioner data bank, child abuse registry, and sex offender registry, and must deny a license if there is a positive identification on the abuse or sex offender registries.
- By July 1, 2026, the department of inspections, appeals, and licensing must create a free, public online database containing all licensee records, state disciplinary actions, and complaint flags for sexual misconduct, sexual assault, substance use, medical malpractice, or substandard practice.
- If a board identifies a founded case of sexual misconduct by an applicant, it must deny the license unless 10 years have elapsed and the applicant completed a problematic sexualized behavior treatment program.
- If a board identifies a founded case of sexual misconduct by a licensee, it must immediately suspend the license until 10 years have elapsed and the licensee completed a problematic sexualized behavior treatment program.
Show all 12 facts
- Licensees must report any other licensee known to have violated laws or rules regarding sexual misconduct, sexual assault, or substance use within five days, and complete at least one hour of continuing education per renewal cycle on this duty.
- Employers of licensees must submit information regarding all disciplinary actions taken against the licensee to the licensing board.
- Upon receiving a complaint of sexual misconduct, a board must issue a probationary order requiring supervised practice during the investigation; for sexual assault, the board must immediately suspend the license.
- A board must immediately suspend the license of any licensee charged with a sexual abuse offense under chapter 709 or a human trafficking offense under chapter 710A, and permanently revoke the license upon conviction.
- A licensee practicing on a probationary status must provide written disclosure of the basis for probation to a person or their guardian before providing services.
- The board of medicine must obtain the unadjudicated and complete disciplinary history from each state in which an applicant for medicine and surgery or osteopathic medicine and surgery has practiced.
- The board of medicine may discipline a physician employed by a health insurer who denies a claim for any reason not supported by the physician's sound medical judgment.
- Investigative files of licensing boards are confidential until the conclusion of an investigation, after which final written decisions and findings of fact become public records, and disciplinary records are admissible in civil actions to show a pattern of misconduct.
Frequently Asked Questions
When will the public online database of licensee disciplinary records be available?
What happens if a health professional is accused of sexual assault?
What is the penalty for a licensee convicted of a sexual abuse or human trafficking offense?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
2 actions- Feb 5, 2025SenateSubcommittee: Rozenboom, Schultz, and Townsend. S.J. 203 .
- Feb 4, 2025SenateIntroducedIntroduced, referred to State Government. S.J. 189 .
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Shift toward public transparency in disciplinary records
The bill mandates the creation of a public online database by July 1, 2026, combining national data bank records with state disciplinary actions and specific flags for sexual misconduct.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.legis.iowa.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance85How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy45Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz30Current news / social attention level
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