State Lawmakers Advance Reforms Expanding Access To Health Care forbes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from forbes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – While the pace of hiring has been ramping up in the Triangle and across North Carolina, considerable talent gaps continue to dampen the region’s economic recovery.
WRAL TechWire examined this dynamic last week in a multi-part series covering the state’s emerging “jobs conundrum.” Pandemic-related concerns and lack of financial incentives play into this shortfall, as NC State economist Mike Walden pointed out in a column.
Employers are scrambling to fill high-demand roles in healthcare, drug development and biotechnology, as today’s Jobs Report shows. Jobs in tech-centric occupations like software development and information technology are also readily available.
A pair of bills would ease restrictions on dental care by allowing training hygienists to do routine procedures without the presence of a dentist, particularly at schools.
Hygienists could, for example, administer local anesthetics, under supervision, and perform dental hygiene at schools, without a dentist.
Senate Bill 146 won unanimous approval from senators on March 31. The House version, House Bill 144, passed 113-1 on Thursday, May 6. Rep. Abe Jones, D-Wake, cast the lone dissenting vote.
Lawmakers will now likely decide which bill to use for the final version that will head ultimately to the governor.
The bills are similar, and each includes a provision for teledentistry: in other words, meeting with a patient online to cull data, record symptoms, and make assessments, for example.