By Longoria H.B. No. 3180 Line and page numbers may not match official copy. Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E. A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-1 AN ACT 1-2 relating to the intake, assessment and admission of a patient to an 1-3 inpatient mental health facility. 1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-5 SECTION 1. Section 572.0025 of the Health and Safety Code, 1-6 is amended to read as follows: 1-7 Sec. 572.0025. Intake, Assessment, and Admission. (a) The 1-8 board shall adopt rules governing the voluntary admission of a 1-9 patient to an inpatient mental health facility, including rules 1-10 governing the intake and assessment procedures of the admission 1-11 process. 1-12 (b) The rules governing the intake process shall establish 1-13 minimum standards for: 1-14 (1) reviewing a prospective patient's finances and 1-15 insurance benefits; 1-16 (2) explaining to a prospective patient the patient's 1-17 rights; and 1-18 (3) explaining to a prospective patient the facility's 1-19 services and treatment process. 1-20 (c) The assessment provided for by the rules may be 1-21 conducted only by a professional who meets the qualifications 1-22 prescribed by board rules. 1-23 (d) The rules governing the assessment process shall 2-1 prescribe: 2-2 (1) the types of professionals who may conduct an 2-3 assessment; 2-4 (2) the minimum credentials each type of professional 2-5 must have to conduct an assessment; and 2-6 (3) the type of assessment that professional may 2-7 conduct. 2-8 (e) In accordance with board rule, a facility shall provide 2-9 annually a minimum of eight hours of inservice training regarding 2-10 intake and assessment for persons who will be conducting an intake 2-11 or assessment for the facility. A person may not conduct intake or 2-12 assessments without having completed the initial and applicable 2-13 annual inservice training. 2-14 (f) A prospective voluntary patient may not be formally 2-15 accepted for treatment in a facility unless: 2-16 (1) the facility has a physician's order admitting the 2-17 prospective patient, which order may be issued orally, 2-18 electronically, or in writing, signed by the physician, provided 2-19 that, in the case of an oral order or an electronically transmitted 2-20 unsigned order, a signed original is presented to the mental health 2-21 facility within 24 hours of the initial order; the order must be 2-22 from: 2-23 (A) an admitting physician who has conducted an 2-24 in-person physical and psychiatric examination within 72 hours of 2-25 the admission; or 2-26 (B) an admitting physician who has consulted 3-1 with a physician who has conducted an in-person examination within 3-2 72 hours of the admission; and 3-3 (2) the facility administrator or a person designated 3-4 by the administrator has agreed to accept the prospective patient 3-5 and has signed a statement to that effect. 3-6 (g) An assessment conducted as required by rules adopted 3-7 under this section does not satisfy a statutory or regulatory 3-8 requirement for a personal evaluation of a patient or a prospective 3-9 patient by a physician before admission. 3-10 (h) In this section: 3-11 (1) "Admission" means the formal acceptance of a 3-12 prospective patient to a facility. 3-13 (2) "Assessment" means the administrative process a 3-14 facility uses to gather information from a prospective patient, 3-15 including a medical history and the problem for which the patient 3-16 is seeking treatment, to determine whether a prospective patient 3-17 should be examined by a physician to determine if admission is 3-18 clinically justified. 3-19 (3) "Intake" means the administrative process for 3-20 gathering information about a prospective patient and giving a 3-21 prospective patient information about the facility and the 3-22 facility's treatment and services. 3-23 (i) The physician's order admitting the prospective patient 3-24 and the in-person physical and psychiatric examination conducted by 3-25 the physician shall not be delegated to a non-physician health care 3-26 provider.