The Center for Health Care Quality (CHCQ) licenses and certifies over 14,000 health care facilities and agencies in California in 30 different licensure and certification categories. Keeping licensing and certification practices consistent throughout California can be challenging. The Centralized Program Flex Unit (CPFU), a division of CHCQ, has a mission to ensure standardization and consistency...
This post has been archived and contains information that may be out of date.
This post has been archived and contains information that may be out of date.The Center for Health Care Quality (CHCQ) licenses and certifies over 14,000 health care facilities and agencies in California in 30 different licensure and certification categories. Keeping licensing and certification practices consistent throughout California can be challenging. The Centralized Program Flex Unit […]
This post has been archived and contains information that may be out of date.
The Board of Registered Nursing (BRN) has released regulations enabling nurse practitioners (NPs) in specified settings to practice without standardized procedures, expanding access to critically needed health care across California.
This post has been archived and contains information that may be out of date.
CHA — along with the California Medical Association (CMA), the Texas Hospital Association, and the Texas Medical Association — submitted a joint letter last week to U.S. Department of Education (DOE) Secretary Miguel Cardona on federal student loan forgiveness for physicians.
In addition to its federal and state legislative and regulatory advocacy, CHA also advocates for hospitals through the judicial system by filing amicus (“friend of the court”) briefs in cases that may potentially have a broad impact on hospitals and health systems. Amicus briefs allow CHA to provide important factual context and legal analysis from hospitals’ perspectives. CHA’s most recent amicus efforts beginning in 2021 are summarized below, with cases listed in the year in which CHA submitted its amicus brief in the matter.
This post has been archived and contains information that may be out of date.
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has finalized regulations on adverse event reporting for general acute care hospitals (GACHs) and acute psychiatric hospitals, effective Jan. 1, 2022.
This post has been archived and contains information that may be out of date.
CHA has submitted comments to the California Department of Public Health on its proposed regulations on privacy breach reporting. In its letter, CHA makes recommendations in several key areas.
This post has been archived and contains information that may be out of date.
Given that CDPH is not planning to issue a statewide blanket waiver of the nurse-to-patient ratio law at this time, hospitals are reminded of the following exceptions related to this law:
This post has been archived and contains information that may be out of date.
Our hospital has a patient who no longer needs acute care. We gave her the “Important Message from Medicare,” and she has not appealed the discharge decision. However, she refuses to consent to the skilled-nursing facility placement we secured. What can we do?
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many statutes and regulations regarding discharge planning and consent for transfer have been waived. For example, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has waived the requirement to tell patients of their freedom to choose among participating post-acute providers and suppliers, and to provide data on quality measures and resource use measures. The requirement to include in the discharge plan a list of available post-acute providers has also been waived. However, the state and federal constitutions and common law (judge-made law) give individuals the right to self-determination – that is, to decide what happens to their bodies, including where to go. Forcibly transferring a patient somewhere they don’t want to go could be considered battery or kidnapping. These laws cannot be not waived.
This does not mean that the patient has the legal right to stay in the hospital. She does not. However, it is not usually possible for a hospital to get a local public health officer to legally order the patient to leave or a law enforcement officer to remove the patient. CHA recommends that the hospital carefully document the patient’s medical condition and readiness for discharge and present all available options to the patient. The hospital’s social services, pastoral care, or behavioral health department may be helpful in getting the patient to choose one of the options. Legal solutions are expensive and time-consuming, so creativity and persuasion are important. Should legal action eventually be necessary, it will be important for the hospital to show that it exhausted other avenues for transfer or discharge. If other efforts fail, a hospital should consult its legal counsel to consider an action for unlawful detainer and/or trespass.
Hospitals may also want to consider including language in their Conditions of Admission (COA) form that obligates the patient to leave when the need for acute care is over. It might help to show the patient that this is standard procedure, it is required of all patients, and she already agreed to it. (7/27)
This post has been archived and contains information that may be out of date.
CHA is pleased to announce its 2019 Model Medical Staff Bylaws and Rules are now available. The manual sets a framework for the working relationship of hospital medical staff, hospital administration and governing body, and assures legal protections are in place.
