(a) Any health facility licensed under Section 1250 that provides prenatal screening ultrasound to detect congenital heart defects shall require that the ultrasound be performed by a sonographer who is nationally certified in obstetrical ultrasound by the American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonography (ARDMS), nationally certified in cardiac sonography by Cardiovascular Credentialing International (CCI), or credentialed in sonography by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT).

(b) For purposes of this section, the following shall apply:

Terms Used In California Health and Safety Code 1264

  • health facility: means a facility, place, or building that is organized, maintained, and operated for the diagnosis, care, prevention, and treatment of human illness, physical or mental, including convalescence and rehabilitation and including care during and after pregnancy, or for any one or more of these purposes, for one or more persons, to which the persons are admitted for a 24-hour stay or longer, and includes the following types:

    California Health and Safety Code 1250

  • Person: means any person, firm, association, organization, partnership, business trust, corporation, limited liability company, or company. See California Health and Safety Code 19
  • State: means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. See California Health and Safety Code 23

(1) A sonographer is also known as an “ultrasound technologist” or “sonologist.”

(2) “Sonographer” means any nonphysician who is qualified by national certification or academic or clinical experience to perform diagnostic medical ultrasound, with a subspecialty in obstetrical ultrasound.

(c) (1) Any sonographer who is certified as required in subdivision (a) or otherwise meets the requirements of this section, shall, in performing a prenatal ultrasound to detect congenital heart defects, perform the work under the supervision of a licensed physician and surgeon.

(2) For purposes of this section, licensed physician and surgeon means any physician and surgeon, licensed pursuant to Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 2000) of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code.

(d) Any person with a minimum of two years of full-time work experience in this state as a sonographer in prenatal ultrasound and has obtained, or is in the process of obtaining, 30 continuing medical education credits over a three-year period in ultrasound shall be deemed to be in compliance with the requirements of this section.

(e) A health facility shall develop policies and procedures to implement the requirements of this section.

(f) This section and policies and procedures adopted pursuant to this section shall not prohibit any physician and surgeon licensed pursuant to Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 2000) of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code from performing a prenatal ultrasound nor in any other way limit the ability of a licensed physician and surgeon to practice medicine in a manner consistent with that license.

(g) This section and policies and procedures adopted pursuant to this section shall not apply to any physician and surgeon, sonologist, certified nurse-midwife, or nurse practitioner who performs limited prenatal ultrasounds for the purpose of obtaining an amniotic fluid index, fetal position, a biophysical profile or dating a pregnancy prior to 20 weeks gestation.

(h) Article 4 (commencing with Section 1235) and any other provision relating to criminal sanctions for violations of this chapter shall not apply to any person who violates this section or any regulation adopted pursuant to this section.

(i) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2006.

(Added by Stats. 2004, Ch. 770, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2005. Section operative July 1, 2006, by its own provisions.)

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