Senate Bill sb1200er

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.


    ENROLLED

    2001 Legislature                                       SB 1200



  1                                 

  2         An act relating to public records and meetings;

  3         providing an exemption from the public records

  4         law for certain records relating to internal

  5         risk-management programs in nursing homes and

  6         assisted living facilities; providing for

  7         release of such information under certain

  8         circumstances; providing an exemption from the

  9         public meetings law for meetings of internal

10         risk-management and quality-assurance

11         committees in nursing homes and assisted living

12         facilities; providing for future legislative

13         review and repeal; providing a statement of

14         public necessity; providing a contingent

15         effective date.

16  

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

18  

19         Section 1.  Confidentiality of records and meetings of

20  risk-management and quality-assurance committees.--

21         (1)  Records of meetings of the risk-management and

22  quality-assurance committee of a long-term care facility

23  licensed under part II or part III of chapter 400, Florida

24  Statutes, as well as incident reports filed with the

25  facility's risk manager and administrator, notifications of

26  the occurrence of an adverse incident, and adverse-incident

27  reports from the facility are confidential and exempt from

28  section 119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and Section 24(a) of

29  Article I of the State Constitution. However, if the Agency

30  for Health Care Administration has a reasonable belief that

31  conduct by a staff member or employee of a facility is


                                  1

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.




    ENROLLED

    2001 Legislature                                       SB 1200



  1  criminal activity or grounds for disciplinary action by a

  2  regulatory board, the agency may disclose such records to the

  3  appropriate law enforcement agency or regulatory board.

  4         (2)  Records that are confidential and exempt under

  5  subsection (1) and that are obtained by a regulatory board are

  6  not available to the public as part of the record of

  7  investigation and prosecution in a disciplinary proceeding

  8  made available to the public by the agency or the appropriate

  9  regulatory board. However, the agency or the appropriate

10  regulatory board shall make available, upon request by a

11  health care professional against whom probable cause has been

12  found, any such records that form the basis of the

13  determination of probable cause.

14         (3)  Records disclosed to a law enforcement agency

15  pursuant to subsection (1) remain confidential and exempt

16  until criminal charges are filed.

17         (4)  The meetings of an internal risk-management and

18  quality-assurance committee of a long-term care facility

19  licensed under part II or part III of chapter 400, Florida

20  Statutes, are exempt from section 286.011, Florida Statutes,

21  and Section 24(b) of Article I of the State Constitution and

22  are not open to the public.

23         (5)  This section is subject to the Open Government

24  Sunset Review Act of 1995 in accordance with section 119.15,

25  Florida Statutes, and shall stand repealed on October 1, 2006,

26  unless reviewed and saved from repeal through reenactment by

27  the Legislature.

28         Section 2.  The Legislature finds that it is a public

29  necessity that information pertaining to the operation of

30  internal risk-management and quality-assurance programs in

31  long-term care facilities licensed under part II or part III


                                  2

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.




    ENROLLED

    2001 Legislature                                       SB 1200



  1  of chapter 400, Florida Statutes, be confidential and exempt

  2  from public records requirements, and that meetings of

  3  quality-assurance committees be closed to the public. The

  4  Legislature finds that it is in the interests of the health

  5  and safety of the public to require long-term care facilities

  6  to operate internal risk-management programs and for the

  7  Agency for Health Care Administration to review the operation

  8  of these programs. The Legislature finds that these programs

  9  are effective in reducing risk to residents and improving

10  quality when facility staff have frank and open internal

11  communication regarding potential resident risks and

12  quality-assurance problems and that public access to these

13  discussions or agency records of these discussions will

14  inhibit this frank and open internal communication.

15         Section 3.  This act shall take effect on the same date

16  that Senate Bill ____ or similar legislation creating internal

17  risk-management and quality-assurance programs in long-term

18  care facilities licensed under part II or part III of chapter

19  400, Florida Statutes, takes effect, if such legislation is

20  adopted in the same legislative session or an extension

21  thereof.

22  

23  

24  

25  

26  

27  

28  

29  

30  

31  


                                  3

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.