House Bill 0771e1

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                                       HB 771, First Engrossed/ntc



  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to hospices; amending s.

  3         400.605, F.S.; revising authority of the

  4         Department of Elderly Affairs to adopt rules

  5         for hospice standards and procedures; amending

  6         ss. 400.6085 and 400.609, F.S.; authorizing

  7         contracts for physician services; providing an

  8         effective date.

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10  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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12         Section 1.  Subsection (1) of section 400.605, Florida

13  Statutes, is amended to read:

14         400.605  Administration; forms; fees; rules;

15  inspections; fines.--

16         (1)  The department, in consultation with the agency,

17  shall by rule establish minimum standards and licensure

18  procedures for a hospice.  The rules must include:

19         (a)  License application procedures and requirements.

20         (b)(a)  The qualifications of professional and

21  ancillary personnel to ensure the provision of appropriate and

22  adequate hospice care.

23         (c)(b)  Standards for the administrative management of

24  a hospice.

25         (d)(c)  Standards for hospice services that ensure the

26  provision of quality patient care.

27         (e)  Components of a patient plan of care.

28         (f)  Procedures relating to the implementation of

29  advance directives and do-not-resuscitate orders.

30         (g)(d)  Procedures for maintaining and ensuring

31  confidentiality of patient records.


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                                       HB 771, First Engrossed/ntc



  1         (e)  Provision for contractual arrangements for the

  2  inpatient component of hospice care and for other professional

  3  and ancillary hospice services.

  4         (h)(f)  Standards for hospice care provided in hospice

  5  residential units and freestanding inpatient facilities that

  6  are not otherwise licensed medical facilities and in

  7  residential care facilities such as nursing homes, assisted

  8  living facilities, adult family care homes, and hospice

  9  residential units and facilities.

10         (i)  Physical plant standards for hospice residential

11  units and inpatient facilities.

12         (j)  Components of a disaster preparedness plan.

13         (k)  Standards and procedures relating to the

14  establishment and activities of a quality assurance and

15  utilization review committee.

16         (l)  Components and procedures relating to the

17  collection of patient demographic data and other information

18  on the provision of hospice care in this state.

19         Section 2.  Subsection (1) of section 400.6085, Florida

20  Statutes, is amended to read:

21         400.6085  Contractual services.--A hospice may contract

22  out for some elements of its services.  However, the core

23  services, as set forth in s. 400.609(1), with the exception of

24  physician services, shall be provided directly by the hospice.

25  Any contract entered into between a hospice and a health care

26  facility or service provider must specify that the hospice

27  retains the responsibility for planning, coordinating, and

28  prescribing hospice care and services for the hospice patient

29  and family.  A hospice that contracts for any hospice service

30  is prohibited from charging fees for services provided

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                                       HB 771, First Engrossed/ntc



  1  directly by the hospice care team that duplicate contractual

  2  services provided to the patient and family.

  3         (1)  A contract for hospice services, including

  4  inpatient services, must:

  5         (a)  Identify the nature and scope of services to be

  6  provided.

  7         (b)  Require that direct patient care shall be

  8  maintained, supervised, and coordinated by the hospice care

  9  team.

10         (c)  Limit the services to be provided to only those

11  expressly authorized by the hospice in writing.

12         (d)  Delineate the roles of hospice staff and contract

13  staff in the admission process and patient assessment.

14         (e)  Identify methods for ensuring continuity of

15  hospice care.

16         (f)  Plan for joint quality assurance.

17         (g)  Specify the written documentation, including

18  patient records, required of contract staff.

19         (h)  Specify qualifications of persons providing the

20  contract services.

21         (i)  Specify the effective dates for the contract.

22         Section 3.  Subsections (1), (3), and (4) of section

23  400.609, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:

24         400.609  Hospice services.--Each hospice shall provide

25  a continuum of hospice services which afford the patient and

26  the family of the patient a range of service delivery which

27  can be tailored to specific needs and preferences of the

28  patient and family at any point in time throughout the length

29  of care for the terminally ill patient and during the

30  bereavement period. These services must be available 24 hours

31  a day, 7 days a week, and must include:


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                                       HB 771, First Engrossed/ntc



  1         (1)  CORE SERVICES.--

  2         (a)  The hospice team shall directly provide the

  3  following core services:  physician services, nursing

  4  services, pastoral or counseling services, dietary counseling,

  5  home health aide services, and bereavement counseling

  6  services.  Physician services may be directly provided by the

  7  hospice or through contract.  A hospice may also use

  8  contracted staff if necessary to supplement hospice employees

  9  in order to meet the needs of patients during periods of peak

10  patient loads or under extraordinary circumstances.

11         (b)  Each hospice must also provide or arrange for such

12  additional services are needed to meet the palliative and

13  support needs of the patient and family.  These services may

14  include, but are not limited to, physical therapy,

15  occupational therapy, speech therapy, massage therapy, home

16  health aide services, infusion therapy, provision of medical

17  supplies and durable medical equipment, day care, homemaker

18  and chore services, and funeral services.

19         (3)  HOSPICE RESIDENTIAL CARE.--Hospice care and

20  services, to the extent practicable and compatible with the

21  needs and preferences of the patient, may be provided by the

22  hospice care team to a patient living in an assisted living

23  facility, adult family-care home, nursing home, hospice

24  residential unit or facility, or other nondomestic place of

25  permanent or temporary residence.  A resident or patient

26  living in an assisted living facility, adult family-care home,

27  nursing home, or other facility subject to state licensing who

28  has been admitted to a hospice program shall be considered a

29  hospice patient, and the hospice program shall be responsible

30  for coordinating and ensuring the delivery of hospice care and

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                                       HB 771, First Engrossed/ntc



  1  services to such patient pursuant to the standards and

  2  requirements of this part and adopted rules.

  3         (4)  HOSPICE INPATIENT CARE.--The inpatient component

  4  of care is a short-term adjunct to hospice home care and

  5  hospice residential care, and shall be used only for pain

  6  control, symptom management, or respite care. The total number

  7  of inpatient days for all hospice patients in any 12-month

  8  period may not exceed 20 percent of the total number of

  9  hospice days for all the hospice patients of the licensed

10  hospice. Hospice inpatient care shall be under the direct

11  administration of the hospice, whether the inpatient facility

12  is a freestanding hospice facility or part of a facility

13  licensed pursuant to chapter 395 or part II of this chapter.

14  The facility or rooms within a facility used for the hospice

15  inpatient component of care shall be arranged, administered,

16  and managed in such a manner as to provide privacy, dignity,

17  comfort, warmth, and safety for the terminally ill patient and

18  the family. Every possible accommodation must be made to

19  create as homelike an atmosphere as practicable.  To

20  facilitate overnight family visitation within the facility,

21  rooms must be limited to no more than double occupancy; and,

22  whenever possible, both occupants must be hospice patients.

23  There must be a continuum of care and a continuity of

24  caregivers between the hospice home program and the inpatient

25  aspect of care to the extent practicable and compatible with

26  the preferences of the patient and his or her family.  Fees

27  charged for hospice inpatient care, whether provided directly

28  by the hospice or through contract, must be made available

29  upon request to the Agency for Health Care Administration. The

30  hours for daily operation and the location of the place where

31  the services are provided must be determined, to the extent


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                                       HB 771, First Engrossed/ntc



  1  practicable, by the accessibility of such services to the

  2  patients and families served by the hospice.

  3         Section 4.  This act shall take effect July 1, 1999.

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