Doctors and Nurses in Colorado – Get Your Fingerprints Ready!

Did you know that Colorado is one of five states that does not require background checks or fingerprints for nurses?  Did you know that the state is also one of six states that does not require them for doctors either?  This is shocking news for some, but a proposed bill will hopefully be changing this very soon.

The Patient Safety Act of 2017 has been proposed by the Department of Regulatory Agencies, which would require background checks with fingerprints on all doctors and nurses who prescribe medication.  This bill would affect more than 160,000 medical professionals to get background checks based on their fingerprints in order to practice medicine in Colorado. The checks would be completed on doctors, physician assistants, dentists, optometrists, podiatrists and veterinarians. They would be run when someone applies for a license or when a license is renewed or reinstated. They would also be run if the person is under a medical board investigation.

The focus behind the bill is to provide patients more protection, and provide more regulation for regulators within the state of Colorado.  A part of this bill is to also provide ongoing alerts for nursing and medical boards. If anyone that has been background checked is arrested of a crime, the medical or nursing board will get an alert and decide whether or not to investigate that person.

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