(a)The Department of Health, in coordination with the Arkansas State Board of Nursing, shall establish the "Clinical Nurse Education Portal", if funds are available.
(b)The portal shall:
(1)Be a statewide management software system that contains information for all nursing programs in Arkansas in relation to clinical nursing placement access for nursing students and healthcare facilities;
(2)Be compliant with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, 20 U.S.C. § 1232g , and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996; (3)Provide clinical access and utilization data to the board to inform future quality improvement initiatives;
(4)Contain compliance, orientation, clinical schedules, and affiliation information for a clinical nursing placement; and (5)
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(a) The Department of Health, in coordination with the Arkansas State Board of Nursing, shall establish the "Clinical Nurse Education Portal", if funds are available. (b) The portal shall: (1) Be a statewide management software system that contains information for all nursing programs in Arkansas in relation to clinical nursing placement access for nursing students and healthcare facilities; (2) Be compliant with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, 20 U.S.C. § 1232g , and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996; (3) Provide clinical access and utilization data to the board to inform future quality improvement initiatives; (4) Contain compliance, orientation, clinical schedules, and affiliation information for a clinical nursing placement; and (5) Be accessible to all healthcare providers and nursing programs with clinical hour requirements, including simulation laboratory hours. (c) The department may contract with a non-state entity to establish and maintain the portal. (d) (1) All nursing programs and healthcare providers participating or desiring to participate in providing nursing clinical experiences shall have access to the portal and the ability to manage clinical requests, affiliations, and clinical compliance utilizing the software. (2) A nursing program or healthcare provider is not required to adopt the use of the portal as their primary clinical experience management software. (e) (1) On the year-anniversary of August 1, 2023, and annually thereafter, the department shall report on the implementation, progress, and activity of the portal to the: (A) Senate Committee on Public Health, Welfare, and Labor; and (B) House Committee on Public Health, Welfare, and Labor. (2) The Chair of the Senate Committee on Public Health, Welfare, and Labor or the Chair of the House Committee on Public Health, Welfare, and Labor may request any additional reports at his or her discretion. (f) (1) The portal may be funded by one-time funds under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, Pub. L. No. 117-2, if available and eligible, to fund personnel and build software programs. (2) In order to maintain the portal, the department may charge a fee to nursing programs or healthcare providers, or both, that use the portal. (g) The department may expand the portal to include other disciplines of healthcare professionals.