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SB0267 • 2026

Health Care

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 68, Chapter 29, relative to medical laboratories.

Healthcare
Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Hensley, Leatherwood
Last action
2025-04-04
Official status
Comp. became Pub. Ch. 147
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary and text do not provide details on enforcement or monitoring of compliance with rules.

Medical Laboratory Collection Station Licensing

This law changes licensing requirements for collection stations operated by medical laboratory owners and non-owners in Tennessee.

What This Bill Does

  • Changes rules about when a collection station needs an additional license.
  • Allows owners of licensed medical labs to run collection stations without extra licenses, no matter where the samples go, as long as they retain ownership and oversight.
  • Requires people who aren't lab owners but want to operate collection stations for Tennessee labs to get a special license from the state board.
  • Ensures all collection stations follow rules set by the state board.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Medical laboratory owners in Tennessee
  • People running collection stations for medical laboratories

Terms To Know

Collection station
A place where samples like blood or urine are collected and sent to a lab for testing.
Medical laboratory owner
The person who owns and runs a medical laboratory that does tests on patient samples.

Limits and Unknowns

  • Does not explain how compliance with rules will be enforced or monitored.
  • The effective date of July 1, 2025, means changes won't happen right away.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

Amendment 1-0 to HB0702

Plain English: This amendment changes Tennessee law to allow medical laboratory owners who are licensed in the state to operate collection stations without needing additional licenses, as long as they maintain oversight and records for those stations.

  • Medical laboratory owners with a license in Tennessee can now run collection stations without getting extra licenses, provided they keep control over these stations and provide necessary records if needed by the board.
  • People who are not medical laboratory owners must still get a separate license from the board to operate collection stations.
  • The amendment does not specify what happens if a licensed medical laboratory owner fails to maintain oversight or produce required records for their collection stations.
Amendment 1-0 to SB0267

Plain English: The amendment changes Tennessee's medical laboratory licensing requirements for collection stations.

  • Collection stations owned and operated by a licensed medical laboratory in Tennessee do not need an additional license, regardless of where specimens are transported from these stations.
  • A person who is not the owner of a licensed medical laboratory must obtain a separate license to operate a collection station.
  • All collection stations must follow rules set by the board overseeing medical laboratories.
  • The amendment text does not specify what happens if a collection station loses oversight from its parent medical laboratory.

Bill History

  1. 2025-04-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Comp. became Pub. Ch. 147

  2. 2025-04-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Effective date(s) 07/01/2025

  3. 2025-04-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Pub. Ch. 147

  4. 2025-04-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by Governor.

  5. 2025-03-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    Transmitted to Governor for his action.

  6. 2025-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by Senate Speaker

  7. 2025-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by H. Speaker

  8. 2025-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Enrolled; ready for sig. of H. Speaker.

  9. 2025-03-24 Tennessee General Assembly

    Companion House Bill substituted

  10. 2025-03-24 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed Senate, Ayes 33, Nays 0

  11. 2025-03-24 Tennessee General Assembly

    Amendment withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - SA0160)

  12. 2025-03-24 Tennessee General Assembly

    Senate substituted House Bill for companion Senate Bill.

  13. 2025-03-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/24/2025

  14. 2025-03-20 Tennessee General Assembly

    Received from House, Passed on First Consideration

  15. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 9, Nays 0 PNV 0

  16. 2025-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Engrossed; ready for transmission to Sen.

  17. 2025-03-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed H., as am., Ayes 93, Nays 0, PNV 0

  18. 2025-03-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. adopted am. (Amendment 1 - HA0067)

  19. 2025-03-13 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/17/2025

  20. 2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Health and Welfare Committee calendar for 3/19/2025

  21. 2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate Health and Welfare Committee to 3/19/2025

  22. 2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 3/13/2025

  23. 2025-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee

  24. 2025-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Health and Welfare Committee calendar for 3/12/2025

  25. 2025-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Health Committee for 3/11/2025

  26. 2025-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Health Committee

  27. 2025-03-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  28. 2025-02-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Health Subcommittee for 3/5/2025

  29. 2025-02-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action Def. in s/c Health Subcommittee to 3/5/2025

  30. 2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Health Subcommittee for 2/19/2025

  31. 2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Health and Welfare Committee

  32. 2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Health Subcommittee

  33. 2025-02-06 Tennessee General Assembly

    P2C, ref. to Health Committee

  34. 2025-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  35. 2025-02-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  36. 2025-01-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  37. 2025-01-23 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

Present law provides that the Tennessee medical laboratory board is responsible for the establishment of the procedu
res and standards to be used for the proper collection, handling, and preanalytic processing of laboratory samples and may promulgate the necessary rules for such procedures and standards, including licensing.

Present law provides that collection station
s owned and operated as part of a laboratory licensed in this state do not require an additional license. However, collection stations owned and operated by laboratories in other states are required to have a Tennessee license.

This bill revises such li
censure provisions to, instead, provide that a collection station operated by a medical laboratory owner that is a licensee of a medical laboratory in this state does not require an additional license, without regard to where specimens collected at the ow
n
er's collection stations are transported, as long as the owner of the licensed medical laboratory retains ownership of the medical laboratory and oversight of the collection stations. However, a collection station operated by a person who is not a medica
l
laboratory owner that is a licensee of a medical laboratory located in this state must have a license issued by the board.

ON MARCH 17, 2025, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 702, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1 clarifies that the provision requiring the
medical laboratory owner of the licensed medical laboratory
to
retain ownership of the medical laboratory and oversight of the collection stations
described in the bill includes
maintaining and producing to the Tennessee medical laboratory

board
,
in the event of a complaint investigation
,
all relevant and non-privileged records associated with the collection stations for purposes of
board
oversight
.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
HOUSE BILL 702
By Leatherwood

SENATE BILL 267
By Hensley

SB0267
001884
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 68,
Chapter 29, relative to medical laboratories.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 68-29-122(c), is amended by
deleting the subsection and substituting:
(c)
(1) A collection station operated by a medical laboratory owner that is a
licensee of a medical laboratory in this state does not require an additional
license, without regard to where specimens collected at the medical laboratory
owner's collection stations are transported, as long as the medical laboratory
owner of the licensed medical laboratory retains ownership of the medical
laboratory and oversight of the collection stations.
(2) A collection station operated by a person who is not a medical
laboratory owner that is a licensee of a medical laboratory located in this state
must have a license issued by the board.
(3) All collection stations must comply with rules prescribed by the board.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect July 1, 2025, the public welfare requiring it.