BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                            



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                                    THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 297
          Author:   Chesbro (D)
          Amended:  7/2/13 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE  :  9-0, 6/26/13
          AYES:  Hernandez, Anderson, Beall, De León, DeSaulnier, Monning,  
            Nielsen, Pavley, Wolk
           
          ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  75-0, 5/2/13 (Consent) - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Primary care clinics

           SOURCE  :     California Primary Care Association


           DIGEST  :    This bill permits a primary care clinic to submit  
          verification of certification from the Joint Commission, the  
          Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC), or  
          any other accrediting organization recognized by the Department  
          of Public Health (DPH), to the Licensing and Certification  
          Division within the DPH for entry into the Electronic Licensing  
          Management System (ELMS) for purposes of data collection and  
          extraction for licensing and certification fee calculations.

           ANALYSIS  :    

          Existing law:

          1. Licenses and regulates various types of clinics, including  
             primary care clinics, by the DPH.
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          2. Permits primary care clinics to submit to DPH verification of  
             certification from the Joint Commission for entry into the  
             ELMS for purposes of data collection and extraction for  
             licensing and certification fee calculations.

          This bill permits a primary care clinic to submit verification  
          of certification from the Joint Commission, the AAAHC, or any  
          other accrediting organization recognized by the DPH, to the  
          Licensing and Certification Division within the DPH for entry  
          into the ELMS for purposes of data collection and extraction for  
          licensing and certification fee calculations.

           Background
           
          According to DPH, the section of law this bill is amending  
          authorizes primary care clinics to submit certification of  
          accreditation for entry into the ELMS, which is the electronic  
          database DPH uses to store information about licensed health  
          facilities.  DPH states that there is no requirement for a  
          clinic to be certified by an accrediting organization, and  
          accreditation information is not factored into the calculation  
          of licensure fees.  However, DPH waives the periodic licensing  
          inspection requirements for those clinics that are accredited by  
          a recognized accrediting organization.  DPH states that it does  
          not approve accrediting organizations, but recognizes those  
          organizations that are approved by the federal Centers for  
          Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) as national accreditation  
          organizations.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  No   Local:  
           No

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  7/2/13)

          California Primary Care Association (source)
          Association of California Healthcare Districts
          California Medical Association

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    According to the author's office, this  
          bill is a technical, cleanup bill that updates obsolete language  
          to reflect the current practice in which DPH accepts  
          certification from AAAHC, the Joint Commission, and other  
          CMS-approved organizations.  Adopting verification from these  

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          entities in lieu of DPH site inspections expedites the process  
          and reduces state costs that otherwise would be required for the  
          site inspections and data collection.  The fees are collected  
          annually, and re-inspection is required every three years.

          This bill's sponsor, the California Primary Care Association,  
          states that this bill is a technical clean-up bill that updates  
          obsolete language to reflect the current practice in which DPH  
          accepts certification from AAAHC, as well as that of the Joint  
          Committee and CMS-approved accrediting organizations.  The  
          Association of California Healthcare Districts states that  
          adopting verification from these accrediting entities in lieu of  
          DPH site inspections expedites the licensing and certification  
          processes and reduces state costs that otherwise would be  
          required for the site inspections and data collection.


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  75-0, 5/2/13
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom,  
            Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown,  
            Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway,  
            Cooley, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox,  
            Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gordon, Gorell,  
            Gray, Grove, Hagman, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Holden,  
            Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein,  
            Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mitchell, Morrell, Mullin,  
            Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea,  
            V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner,  
            Stone, Ting, Torres, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk,  
            Yamada, John A. Pérez
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Atkins, Hall, Jones, Williams, Vacancy


          JL:k  7/2/13   Senate Floor Analyses 

                           SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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