S.B. No. 212
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the regulation of medical rehabilitation services.
1-2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-3 SECTION 1. Chapter 241, Health and Safety Code, is amended
1-4 by adding Subchapter F to read as follows:
1-5 SUBCHAPTER F. MEDICAL REHABILITATION SERVICES
1-6 Sec. 241.121. DEFINITION. In this subchapter,
1-7 "comprehensive medical rehabilitation" means the provision of
1-8 rehabilitation services that are designed to improve or minimize a
1-9 person's physical or cognitive disabilities, maximize a person's
1-10 functional ability, or restore a person's lost functional capacity
1-11 through close coordination of services, communication, interaction,
1-12 and integration among several professions that share the
1-13 responsibility to achieve team treatment goals for the person.
1-14 Sec. 241.122. LICENSE REQUIRED. Unless a person has a
1-15 license issued under this chapter, a person other than an
1-16 individual may not provide inpatient comprehensive medical
1-17 rehabilitation to a patient who requires medical services that are
1-18 provided under the supervision of a physician and that are more
1-19 intensive than nursing facility care and minor treatment.
1-20 Sec. 241.123. REHABILITATION SERVICES STANDARDS. (a) The
1-21 board by rule shall adopt standards for the provision of
1-22 rehabilitation services by a hospital to ensure the health and
1-23 safety of a patient receiving the services.
1-24 (b) The standards adopted by the board at a minimum shall
2-1 require a hospital that provides comprehensive medical
2-2 rehabilitation:
2-3 (1) to have a director of comprehensive medical
2-4 rehabilitation who is:
2-5 (A) a licensed physician;
2-6 (B) either board certified or eligible for board
2-7 certification in a medical specialty related to rehabilitation; and
2-8 (C) qualified by training and experience to
2-9 serve as medical director;
2-10 (2) to have medical supervision by a licensed
2-11 physician for 24 hours each day; and
2-12 (3) to provide appropriate therapy to each patient by
2-13 an interdisciplinary team consisting of licensed physicians,
2-14 rehabilitation nurses, and therapists as are appropriate for the
2-15 patient's needs.
2-16 (c) An interdisciplinary team for comprehensive medical
2-17 rehabilitation shall be directed by a licensed physician. An
2-18 interdisciplinary team for comprehensive medical rehabilitation
2-19 shall have available to it, at the hospital at which the services
2-20 are provided or by contract, members of the following professions
2-21 as necessary to meet the treatment needs of the patient:
2-22 (1) physical therapy;
2-23 (2) occupational therapy;
2-24 (3) speech-language pathology;
2-25 (4) therapeutic recreation;
2-26 (5) social services and case management;
2-27 (6) dietetics;
3-1 (7) psychology;
3-2 (8) respiratory therapy;
3-3 (9) rehabilitative nursing;
3-4 (10) certified orthotics; and
3-5 (11) certified prosthetics.
3-6 (d) A hospital shall prepare for each patient receiving
3-7 inpatient rehabilitation services a written treatment plan designed
3-8 for that patient's needs for treatment and care. The board by rule
3-9 shall specify a time after admission of a patient for inpatient
3-10 rehabilitation services by which a hospital must evaluate the
3-11 patient for the patient's initial treatment plan and by which a
3-12 hospital must provide copies of the plan after evaluation.
3-13 (e) A hospital shall prepare for each patient receiving
3-14 inpatient rehabilitation services a written continuing care plan
3-15 that addresses the patient's needs for care after discharge,
3-16 including recommendations for treatment and care and information
3-17 about the availability of resources for treatment or care. The
3-18 board by rule shall specify the time before discharge by which the
3-19 hospital must provide a copy of the continuing care plan. The
3-20 board's rules may allow a facility to provide the continuing care
3-21 plan by a specified time after discharge if providing the plan
3-22 before discharge is impracticable.
3-23 (f) A hospital shall provide a copy of a treatment or
3-24 continuing care plan prepared under this section to the following
3-25 persons in the person's primary language, if practicable:
3-26 (1) the patient;
3-27 (2) a person designated by the patient; and
4-1 (3) as specified by board rule, family members or
4-2 other persons with responsibility for or demonstrated participation
4-3 in the patient's care or treatment.
4-4 (g) Rules adopted by the board under this subchapter may not
4-5 conflict with a federal rule, regulation, or standard.
4-6 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
4-7 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
4-8 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-9 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-10 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-11 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.