RLV S.B. 908 75(R)BILL ANALYSIS PUBLIC HEALTH S.B. 908 By: Zaffirini (Chavez) 4-30-97 Committee Report (Unamended) BACKGROUND Currently, the Texas Department of Health (TDH) is responsible for licensing all hospitals. In addition to state licensing requirements, many hospitals seek Medicare certification or accreditation from national accreditation organizations, all of which require on-site surveys or inspections. Hospitals that are nationally accredited or certified are to be inspected at least once every three years. Medicare funding cutbacks, however, have created an inspection cycle with no established frequency, and TDH is not authorized to conduct an on-site inspection of a hospital that has a Medicare certification or national accreditation. Patients and other stakeholders have no assurance, therefore, that hospitals will be inspected regularly to ensure these facilities safety and quality. PURPOSE S.B. 908 establishes the licensing and inspection of certain hospitals. 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) establishes that except as provided by Subsection (c), a hospital licensed by the Texas Department of Health (TDH) is not subject to additional annual licensing inspections before TDH issues the hospital a license while the hospital maintains certain standards of certification and accreditation. Deletes the provision establishing that a hospital licensed by TDH or the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation (MHMR) is not subject to licensing inspections before the agency issues the hospital a license under Chapter 241 or by the licensing agency. Subsection (b) deletes the provision regarding issuance of a renewal license by MHMR. Makes conforming and non substantive changes. Subsection (c) authorizes TDH to conduct an inspection of a hospital exempt from an annual licensing inspection under Subsection (a) before issuing a renewal license to the hospital if the certification or accreditation body has not conducted an on-site inspection of the hospital in the preceding three years and TDH determines that an inspection of the hospital by the certification or accreditation body is not scheduled within 60 days. SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 1997. SECTION 3. Emergency clause.