FINAL BILL REPORT

                  HB 1445

                         C 282 L 95

                     Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description:  Streamlining hospital regulation and inspection.

Sponsors:  Representatives Silver, Valle, Sommers, Ogden, Fuhrman and Kremen; by request of Legislative Budget Committee.

House Committee on Health Care

Senate Committee on Health & Long-Term Care

Background:  Hospitals are licensed by the Department of Health for the safe and adequate care and treatment of patients in accordance with standards adopted by the department, in cooperation with the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health Care Organizations.

The Department of Health is required to conduct annual inspections of hospitals for construction and operations. The Department of Social and Health Services is required to inspect for compliance with resident rights and direct care standards.

There are no standards specified in law for medical gas piping.

The Legislative Budget Committee conducted a study in 1994 on hospital health and safety regulations for achieving efficiencies and economies in the state's regulatory program. The committee requested legislation to implement the study recommendations.

Summary:  The Department of Health is urged to conform its standards for hospital construction, maintenance and operation to the format and content of the survey standards of the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health Care Organizations.

To avoid duplication in inspections, the department must coordinate with the Department of Social and Health Services when these agencies have joint jurisdiction, such as in acute care and skilled nursing or psychiatric nursing functions, and Medicaid/Medicare long-term care beds.

A hospital accredited by the Joint Commission is not subject to an annual inspection if: (1)  the survey standards are substantially equivalent to state standards; (2) the commission has inspected it within the last twelve months; and (3) the department receives from the commission a copy of the survey reports verifying that the hospital meets applicable standards.

The Department of Health is required to adopt hospital construction standards for medical gas piping systems based on nationally recognized standards.  Medical gas piping systems are included in the craft of plumbing, requiring installation by certified plumbers.

The Department of Health must study alternative strategies for achieving greater efficiencies in the hospital building design and review process, and report its findings and recommendations to the Legislature by January 1, 1996.

Votes on Final Passage:

House     98 0

Senate    48 0 (Senate amended)

House         (House insisted)

Senate        (Senate insisted)

House     96 0 (House concurred)

Effective:  July 23, 1995