Subcommittee moves bill to align Florida lab licensure with federal CLIA standards to ease staffing shortages

Representative Gerwig told the committee Florida's licensing requirements for laboratory personnel are not aligned with Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) standards and said defaulting to CLIA would not sacrifice quality but would help fill critical vacancies, attract more 4-year science graduates and reduce testing delays for patients.

Witnesses from Quest Diagnostics and Laboratory Corporation of America waved in support. The committee voted to report HB 1347 favorably.