The College’s Regulatory Bylaws establish expectations for physicians and for the College.  They establish practice standards, establish a Code of Ethics  and Code of Conduct, define certain forms of conduct as unprofessional and establish requirements for licensure.

There were three (3) changes to College regulatory bylaws since the last edition of the Newsletter.
 

* Bylaw changes come into effect once they are approved by the Government of Saskatchewan and published in the Saskatchewan Gazette.

Regulatory bylaw 26.1 – Operation of Non-Hospital Treatment Facilities in the Province of Saskatchewan

The Council approved an amendment to permit physicians who seek to provide medical care which involves the use of drugs which are intended to or may induce sedation requiring the monitoring of vital signs to apply for an exemption from the requirement for the facility to be approved as a non-hospital treatment facility to utilize those drugs.  An exemption granted pursuant to the amended bylaw may be subject to terms and conditions and may require the physician to provide an undertaking to the College.  This amendment was intended to address situations such as physicians administering inhalation analgesia using less than or equal to 50% nitrous oxide in oxygen in a community-based setting.

Regulatory bylaw 18.1 – The Prescription Review Program

This bylaw was amended to permit physicians to prescribe part-fills of specified Prescription Review Program medications without meeting all of the requirements of the current bylaw.

Regulatory bylaw 25.1 – Operation of Diagnostic Imaging Facilities in the Province of Saskatchewan

The Council approved an amendment related to the frequency of inspection of ultrasound equipment.  The previous requirement to inspect ultrasound equipment “every six months” is now a requirement to inspect “on a schedule recommended by manufacturer’s instructions.”

Council regularly reviews the policies, guidelines and standards which are then made available on the College’s website. 

Since the last edition of DocTalk, Council has updated one policy and one standard/guideline.

*Click on each title below to view the complete version of the policy, standard or guideline.
 

UPDATED POLICY – Renewal Questions – Use of Information by the College

The policy was updated to include the health-related renewal questions recently amended in bylaw 3.1 and to update relevant paragraph references. [See article Recent Amendments to the Health-related Renewal Questions].  There were several other “housekeeping"-type amendments to update reference to the Quality of Care Advisory Committee and the provincial health authority.

UPDATED STANDARD/GUIDELINE (OATP) – Opioid Agonist Therapy Standards and Guidelines for the Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder

The Opioid Agonist Therapy Standards and Guidelines for the Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder have been updated and are available on the website. Thank you to all of the OAT providers and stakeholders who provided expertise for the revision.

Among the changes made are:

• Patient-centered and gender-neutral language
• New sections: buprenorphine implant/depot, acute and chronic pain, considerations for surgery and slow-release oral morphine
• Patient-centered and gender-neutral language
• Focus on trauma-informed care and a comprehensive harm reduction approach
• Missed dose protocol
• ECG guidance
• OAT in pregnancy
• Corrections-Based Temporary Prescribers and Hospital-Based Temporary Prescribers
• ….and more!