(a) Subject to subdivision (b), notwithstanding any other law, a health care provider may prohibit its employees, independent contractors, or other persons or entities, including other health care providers, from participating in activities under this part while on premises owned or under the management or direct control of that prohibiting health care provider or while acting within the course and scope of any employment by, or contract with, the prohibiting health care provider.
(b) A health care provider that elects to prohibit its employees, independent contractors, or other persons or entities, including health care providers, from participating in activities under this part, as described in subdivision (a), shall first give notice of the policy prohibiting participation under this part to the individual or entity. A health care provider that fails to provide notice to an individual or entity in compliance with this subdivision shall not be entitled to enforce such a policy against that individual or entity.
(c) Subject to compliance with subdivision (b), the prohibiting health care provider may take action, including, but not limited to, the following, as applicable, against any individual or entity that violates this policy:
(1) Loss of privileges, loss of membership, or other action authorized by the bylaws or rules and regulations of the medical staff.
(2) Suspension, loss of employment, or other action authorized by the policies and practices of the prohibiting health care provider.
(3) Termination of any lease or other contract between the prohibiting health care provider and the individual or entity that violates the policy.
(4) Imposition of any other nonmonetary remedy provided for in any lease or contract between the prohibiting health care provider and the individual or entity in violation of the policy.
(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent, or to allow a prohibiting health care provider to prohibit, any other health care provider, employee, independent contractor, or other person or entity from any of the following:
(1) Participating, or entering into an agreement to participate, in activities under this part, while on premises that are not owned or under the management or direct control of the prohibiting provider or while acting outside the course and scope of the participant’s duties as an employee of, or an independent contractor for, the prohibiting health care provider.
(2) Participating, or entering into an agreement to participate, in activities under this part as an attending physician or consulting physician while on premises that are not owned or under the management or direct control of the prohibiting provider.
(e) In taking actions pursuant to subdivision (c), a health care provider shall comply with all procedures required by law, its own policies or procedures, and any contract with the individual or entity in violation of the policy, as applicable.
(f) For purposes of this section:
(1) “Notice” means a separate statement in writing advising of the prohibiting health care provider policy with respect to participating in activities under this part.
(2) “Participating, or entering into an agreement to participate, in activities under this part” means doing or entering into an agreement to do any one or more of the following:
(A) Performing the duties of an attending physician as specified in Section 443.5.
(B) Performing the duties of a consulting physician as specified in Section 443.6.
(C) Performing the duties of a mental health specialist, in the circumstance that a referral to one is made.
(D) Delivering the prescription for, dispensing, or delivering the dispensed aid-in-dying drug pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of, and subdivision (c) of, Section 443.5.
(E) Being present when the qualified individual takes the aid-in-dying drug prescribed pursuant to this part.
(3) “Participating, or entering into an agreement to participate, in activities under this part” does not include doing, or entering into an agreement to do, any of the following:
(A) Diagnosing whether a patient has a terminal disease, informing the patient of the medical prognosis, or determining whether a patient has the capacity to make decisions.
(B) Providing information to a patient about this part.
(C) Providing a patient, upon the patient’s request, with a referral to another health care provider for the purposes of participating in the activities authorized by this part.
(g) Any action taken by a prohibiting provider pursuant to this section shall not be reportable under Sections 800 to 809.9, inclusive, of the Business and Professions Code. The fact that a health care provider participates in activities under this part shall not be the sole basis for a complaint or report by another health care provider of unprofessional or dishonorable conduct under Sections 800 to 809.9, inclusive, of the Business and Professions Code.
(h) Nothing in this part shall prevent a health care provider from providing an individual with health care services that do not constitute participation in this part.
(Added by Stats. 2015, 2nd Ex. Sess., Ch. 1, Sec. 1. (AB 15 2x) Effective June 9, 2016. Repealed as of January 1, 2026, pursuant to Section 443.215.)