88R6474 MCF-D
 
  By: Campos H.B. No. 1593
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to infection prevention and control programs and other
  measures for communicable diseases at certain long-term care
  facilities; authorizing an administrative penalty.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 81.014, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 81.014.  LONG-TERM CARE FACILITY INFECTION PREVENTION
  AND CONTROL PROGRAMS [PROGRAM]. (a) Each long-term care facility
  shall, with advice from and subject to the approval of a quality
  assessment and assurance committee designated under Subsection
  (c), establish and maintain an [facility's] infection prevention
  and control program designed to:
               (1)  provide to facility residents and personnel a
  safe, sanitary, and comfortable environment; and
               (2)  help prevent the development and transmission of
  communicable diseases and infections among facility residents and
  personnel.
         (b)  A long-term care facility's infection prevention and
  control program must include:
               (1)  monitoring of key infectious agents, including
  multidrug-resistant organisms; [and]
               (2)  procedures for making rapid influenza diagnostic
  tests available to facility residents and personnel; and
               (3)  procedures for ensuring that rapid antigen
  COVID-19 viral tests are available to facility residents and
  personnel as needed.
         (c)  Each long-term care facility shall designate a quality
  assessment and assurance committee to approve and monitor the
  facility's infection prevention and control program. The facility's
  committee must include:
               (1)  the facility's director of nursing or an
  equivalent consultant with the facility;
               (2)  the facility's medical director or the director's
  designee;
               (3)  not less than three facility employees, at least
  one of whom must be a facility administrator, a facility board
  member, or another individual in a leadership position with the
  facility; and
               (4)  the facility's primary infection preventionist
  designated under Section 81.0145.
         (d)  A long-term care facility's quality assessment and
  assurance committee shall:
               (1)  conduct an annual review of the facility's
  infection prevention and control program and modify the program as
  necessary; and
               (2)  present the findings of each review conducted
  under Subdivision (1) to facility residents and personnel at annual
  meetings that are open to the public.
         (e)  A long-term care facility's primary infection
  preventionist designated under Section 81.0145 shall:
               (1)  with the assistance of the facility's secondary
  infection preventionist designated under that section, implement
  the facility's infection prevention and control program; and
               (2)  submit regular reports to the facility's quality
  assessment and assurance committee on the implementation of the
  program.
         SECTION 2.  Subchapter A, Chapter 81, Health and Safety
  Code, is amended by adding Sections 81.0145 and 81.0146 to read as
  follows:
         Sec. 81.0145.  LONG-TERM CARE FACILITY INFECTION
  PREVENTIONISTS. (a) Each long-term care facility shall designate
  a primary and a secondary infection preventionist. The primary and
  secondary infection preventionists must:
               (1)  have professional training or other specialized
  training in nursing, medical technology, microbiology, or another
  related field;
               (2)  have completed specialized training in infection
  prevention and control;
               (3)  work at least part-time at the facility; and
               (4)  annually complete at least eight hours of training
  approved by the commission related to infectious diseases and
  vaccinations.
         (b)  A long-term care facility's primary infection
  preventionist and, under the direction of the primary infection
  preventionist, secondary infection preventionist shall:
               (1)  implement the facility's infection prevention and
  control program in the manner described by Section 81.014;
               (2)  serve as the facility's contact for the local
  health department or health authority to notify the facility of a
  potential exposure to a reportable disease at the facility;
               (3)  notify the local health department or health
  authority of a potential exposure to a reportable disease at the
  facility not later than eight hours from the time of exposure;
               (4)  notify facility residents, personnel, and
  resident representatives not later than 12 hours from the time a
  reportable disease at the facility is verified;
               (5)  investigate and evaluate incidents during which
  facility residents or personnel were or may have been exposed to a
  communicable disease, using current evidence-based information on
  the possible risks associated with exposure to the communicable
  disease;
               (6)  implement control measures to prevent the spread
  of infection of a communicable disease among facility residents and
  personnel, including:
                     (A)  immunization;
                     (B)  detention;
                     (C)  restrictions;
                     (D)  disinfection;
                     (E)  decontamination;
                     (F)  isolation;
                     (G)  quarantine;
                     (H)  disinfestation;
                     (I)  chemoprophylaxis;
                     (J)  preventive therapy;
                     (K)  prevention methods; and
                     (L)  education;
               (7)  in accordance with applicable law, monitor all
  treatment provided to a facility resident or employee who is
  exposed to and as a result of that exposure infected with a
  communicable disease at the facility;
               (8)  maintain records of and respond in a timely
  manner, as determined by the facility, to each communicable disease
  complaint made by facility residents, personnel, or resident
  representatives;
               (9)  as required by the executive commissioner, submit
  to the department or the local health department or health
  authority accurate information on the total number of cases of a
  reportable disease among facility residents or personnel; and
               (10)  perform other duties for the facility as assigned
  by the executive commissioner.
         (c)  A primary or secondary infection preventionist may not
  serve concurrently as an infection preventionist for more than
  three long-term care facilities.
         (d)  Each long-term care facility shall provide to the local
  health department or health authority the names and qualifications
  of the facility's primary and secondary infection preventionists.
         Sec. 81.0146.  ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTY RELATED TO LONG-TERM
  CARE FACILITY COMMUNICABLE DISEASE AND PREVENTION CONTROL
  MEASURES. (a) The commission may impose an administrative penalty
  against a long-term care facility that violates Section 81.014 or
  81.0145 in an amount determined by the executive commissioner in
  accordance with commission rules.
         (b)  The amount of an administrative penalty imposed under
  this section shall be based on:
               (1)  the seriousness of the violation, including the
  nature, circumstances, extent, and gravity of any prohibited acts,
  and the hazard or potential hazard created to the health and safety
  of facility residents and personnel;
               (2)  enforcement costs relating to the violation;
               (3)  the history of previous violations;
               (4)  the amount necessary to deter future violations;
               (5)  efforts to correct the violation; and
               (6)  any other matter that justice may require.
         SECTION 3.  (a) As soon as practicable after the effective
  date of this Act, each long-term care facility licensed under
  Chapter 242, 247, or 252, Health and Safety Code, shall:
               (1)  establish an infection prevention and control
  program and designate a quality assessment and assurance committee
  to approve the program as required by Section 81.014, Health and
  Safety Code, as amended by this Act; and
               (2)  designate a primary and a secondary infection
  preventionist as required by Section 81.0145, Health and Safety
  Code, as added by this Act.
         (b)  As soon as practicable after the effective date of this
  Act, the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services
  Commission shall adopt the rules necessary to implement the changes
  in law made by this Act.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.