BG H.B. 3121 75(R)BILL ANALYSIS PUBLIC HEALTH H.B. 3121 By: Chavez 4-16-97 Committee Report (Amended) BACKGROUND Current Texas law specifies that hospitals which maintain Medicare certification or national accreditation are not subject to licensing inspections by the Texas Department of Health (TDH). While the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) conduct on-site accreditation surveys at least every three years, Medicare funding cutbacks have created significant uncertainty in the certification survey cycle. Instead of conducting surveys on a periodic basis, scheduling of certification surveys is now based on a "level of effort," with no established frequency. Given this ambiguity, patients and other stakeholders have no assurance that hospitals which are not currently subject to TDH inspections will be surveyed with a frequency that assures safety and quality. PURPOSE H.B. 3121 allows TDH, under specific circumstances, to periodically inspect hospitals which are currently exempt from the annual licensing inspection. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 222.024, Health and Safety Code, as follows: Subsection (a) references the forthcoming exception laid out in subsection (c) and deletes "the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation," the term "agency," and references to the "Texas Hospital Licensing Law" and "licensing agency." Subsection (b) completely deletes the existing language and incorporates the existing language of subsection (c) with the following clarifications: The word "department" replaces "Texas Department of Health." The word "annual" is added in order to clarify the reference to the annual licensing inspection under subsection (a). The word "department" replaces "agency." Subsection (c) permits TDH to inspect a hospital exempt from an annual licensing inspection under subsection (a) before issuing a renewal license, if that hospital has not been inspected in the preceding three years. SECTION 2. Effective date is September 1, 1997. SECTION 3. Emergency clause. EXPLANATION OF AMENDMENTS The amendment adds a prerequisite that TDH determine that a certification or accreditation inspection of the hospital is not scheduled within 60 days before a hospital, as specified in Sec. 222.024(c), is allowed to be inspected by TDH.