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H8545aaMedical Services

Health and Safety - Rhode Island Program to Address Alzheimer's Disease

Requires doctors, nurses, and physician assistants to take one hour of Alzheimer's training every other license renewal cycle.

Introduced68 Yea0 Nay7 Not voting
Population
Affected
35
Email Legislator
Introduced May 13, 2026Committee House Health & Human Services

Plain-English Summary

This bill updates the training requirements for medical professionals in Rhode Island regarding Alzheimer's disease and other cognitive impairments. It requires doctors, nurses, and newly includes physician assistants to complete at least one hour of training on the diagnosis, treatment, and care of patients with these conditions every other license renewal cycle. Previously, this was only a one-time training requirement. Medical professionals who only work in pediatrics, radiology, or pathology can be exempted from this requirement by the Department of Health.

For younger readers

This bill makes a new rule for doctors, nurses, and their helpers. They will now have to take a special class for at least one hour every few years. The class teaches them how to help older people who have diseases that make it hard for them to remember things or think clearly, like a sickness called Alzheimer's. Doctors who only work with kids or look at X-rays don't have to take the class. This makes sure medical workers keep learning how to help people with memory problems.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
PhysiciansNursesPhysician AssistantsAlzheimer's PatientsElderly Individuals
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely

Estimated cost
None
Estimated revenue
None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Ensures vulnerable populations, such as the elderly with cognitive impairments, receive better quality care from continuously trained medical professionals.
  • Expands the training requirement to include physician assistants, ensuring a broader range of healthcare providers are equipped to handle Alzheimer's care.
  • Updates an outdated one-time training standard to an ongoing educational requirement, promoting systemic reform and better public health outcomes for aging communities.
  • Only mandates one hour of training every other renewal cycle, which may be insufficient to adequately prepare professionals for complex cognitive care.
  • Does not provide funding or state support to help medical professionals access or pay for this ongoing training, potentially burdening lower-paid healthcare workers.
  • Fails to explicitly require that the training includes cultural competency or addresses racial and economic disparities in Alzheimer's diagnosis and treatment.
For Conservatives
  • Includes sensible exemptions for medical professionals who do not treat elderly patients, such as pediatricians and radiologists, preventing unnecessary regulatory burdens.
  • Promotes personal responsibility among medical professionals to maintain their skills and knowledge regarding cognitive impairments without creating a massive new government program.
  • The mandate is minimal (only one hour every other renewal cycle), ensuring that healthcare providers are not overly distracted from their primary duties or overly burdened by state mandates.
  • Imposes a new, recurring government mandate on healthcare professionals, infringing on their professional autonomy to choose their own continuing education.
  • Replaces a one-time training requirement with a permanent, ongoing regulatory burden for doctors, nurses, and physician assistants.
  • Grants the Department of Health broad authority to promulgate rules regarding these exemptions, expanding the power of unelected administrative bureaucrats.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

2 versions
Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 6 additions · 3 deletions

SECTION 1. Section 23-1.7-5 of the General Laws in Chapter 23-1.7 entitled "Rhode Island Program to Address Alzheimer’s Disease" is hereby amended to read as follows: 23-1.7-5. Medical professional training.

(a) All physicians licensed pursuant to chapter 37 of title 5, and nurses licensed pursuant to chapter 34 of title 5, shall, no later than October 1, 2023, complete a one-time course of training consisting of and physician assistants licensed pursuant to chapter 54 of title 5, shall complete a minimum of one hour of instruction every other renewal cycle on the diagnosis, treatment, and care of patients with cognitive impairments including, but not limited to, Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders. Individuals providing care solely in pediatrics, radiology, and pathology may be exempt from the provisions of the required medical professional training through rules promulgated by the department.

(b) The department of health shall promulgate rules to implement the training requirement of subsection (a).

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.