Amended in Senate April 21, 2015

Senate BillNo. 675


Introduced by Senator Liu

February 27, 2015


An act to add Section 1262.55 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to health facilities.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 675, as amended, Liu. Health facilities: family caregivers.

Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to license and regulate health facilities, defined to mean a facility, place, or building that is organized, maintained, and operated for the diagnosis, care, prevention, and treatment of human illness, as specified. Existing law requires hospitals, among other things, to have a written discharge planning policy and process that requires appropriate arrangements to be made for posthospital care. A violation of those provisions is a crime.

This bill would, subject to the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, require a hospitalbegin delete and any health facility that provides inpatient medical rehabilitation servicesend delete to take specified actions relating to family caregivers, including, among others, notifying the family caregiverbegin delete when the person to whom care is provided will be dischargedend deletebegin insert of the patient’s discharge or transferend insert to another facilitybegin delete or to home and providing an explanation and live instruction of care that the family caregiver will be providingend deletebegin insert and providing information or instruction regarding the posthospital care needs of the patientend insert. By expanding the scope of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

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SECTION 1.  

Section 1262.55 is added to the Health and Safety
2Code
, immediately following Section 1262.5, to read:

3

1262.55.  

(a) Subject to the provisions of the federal Health
4Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C.
5Sec. 300gg), a hospitalbegin delete and any health facility that provides
6inpatient medical rehabilitation servicesend delete
shall do all of the
7following:

begin delete

8(1) Record the name of a family caregiver, if any, when the
9person to whom care is provided is admitted to the facility.

end delete
begin delete

10(2) Notify the family caregiver when the person to whom care
11is provided will be discharged to another facility or to home.

end delete
begin delete

12(3) Provide an explanation and live instruction of care that the
13family caregiver will be providing.

end delete
begin delete

14(4) Provide telephonic technical assistance to the family
15caregiver when the family caregiver has questions regarding care
16to be provided.

end delete
begin insert

17(1) Provide an opportunity for an individual patient who has
18been admitted to the hospital as an inpatient to identify one family
19caregiver who may assist in posthospital care, and record that
20information in the patient’s medical chart.

end insert
begin insert

21(A) In the event that the patient is unconscious or otherwise
22incapacitated upon admittance to the hospital, the hospital shall
23provide the patient or patient’s legal guardian with an opportunity
24to designate a caregiver within a specified time period, at the
25discretion of the attending physician, following the patient’s
26recovery of consciousness or capacity. The hospital shall promptly
27document the attempt in the patient’s medical record.

end insert
begin insert

28(B) In the event that the patient or legal guardian declines to
29designate a caregiver pursuant to this section, the hospital shall
P3    1promptly document this declination in the patient’s medical record,
2when appropriate.

end insert
begin insert

3(2) Notify the patient’s designated family caregiver of the
4patient’s discharge or transfer to another facility as soon as
5possible and, in any event, upon issuance of a discharge order by
6the patient’s attending physician. If the hospital is unable to contact
7the designated caregiver, the lack of contact shall not interfere
8with, delay, or otherwise affect the medical care provided to the
9patient or an appropriate discharge of the patient. The hospital
10shall promptly document the attempted notification in the patient’s
11medical record.

end insert
begin insert

12(3) Provide an opportunity for the patient and his or her
13designated family caregiver to engage in the discharge planning
14process, which shall include providing information or instruction
15regarding the posthospital care needs of the patient, and education
16and counseling about the patient’s medications, including dosing
17and proper use of medication delivery devices, when applicable.
18This instruction shall be provided in a culturally competent manner
19and in a language that is comprehensible to the patient and
20caregiver, consistent with the requirements of state and federal
21law.

end insert
begin insert

22(4) Provide contact information for any health care service,
23community resource, or other service necessary to successfully
24carry out the care plan.

end insert
begin insert

25(b) Discharge planning policies adopted by a hospital in
26accordance with this section shall ensure that planning is
27appropriate to the condition of the patient being discharged from
28the hospital and to the discharge destination and meets the needs
29and acuity of patients and the abilities of the designated family
30caregiver.

end insert
begin insert

31(c) This section does not require a hospital to do either of the
32following:

end insert
begin insert

33(1) Adopt a policy that would delay discharge or transfer of a
34patient.

end insert
begin insert

35(2) Disclose information if the patient has not provided consent
36that meets the standards required by state and federal laws
37governing the privacy and security of protected health information.

end insert
begin delete

38(b)

end delete

39begin insert(d)end insert For the purposes of this section, “family caregiver” means
40a relative, friend, or neighbor who provides assistance related to
P4    1an underlying physical or mental disability but who is unpaid for
2those services.

3

SEC. 2.  

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
4Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
5the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
6district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
7infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
8for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of
9the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within
10the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
11Constitution.



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