Senate Bill sb1532

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
    Florida Senate - 2006                                  SB 1532

    By Senator Lynn





    7-1189-06                                           See HB 715

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to trauma services; amending s.

  3         395.4001, F.S.; providing definitions;

  4         repealing s. 395.4035, F.S., to terminate the

  5         Trauma Services Trust Fund; amending s.

  6         395.4036, F.S.; revising provisions relating to

  7         distribution of funds to trauma centers and use

  8         thereof; amending s. 395.404, F.S.; requiring

  9         an annual audit of trauma registry data;

10         providing an effective date.

11  

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

13  

14         Section 1.  Section 395.4001, Florida Statutes, is

15  amended to read:

16         395.4001  Definitions.--As used in this part, the term:

17         (1)  "Agency" means the Agency for Health Care

18  Administration.

19         (2)  "Charity care" or "uncompensated trauma care"

20  means that portion of hospital charges reported to the agency

21  for which there is no compensation, other than restricted or

22  unrestricted revenues provided to a hospital by local

23  governments or tax districts regardless of method of payment,

24  for care provided to a patient whose family income for the 12

25  months preceding the determination is less than or equal to

26  200 percent of the federal poverty level, unless the amount of

27  hospital charges due from the patient exceeds 25 percent of

28  the annual family income. However, in no case shall the

29  hospital charges for a patient whose family income exceeds

30  four times the federal poverty level for a family of four be

31  considered charity.

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    Florida Senate - 2006                                  SB 1532
    7-1189-06                                           See HB 715




 1         (3)  "Department" means the Department of Health.

 2         (4)  "Interfacility trauma transfer" means the transfer

 3  of a trauma victim between two facilities licensed under this

 4  chapter, pursuant to this part.

 5         (5)  "International Classification Injury Severity

 6  Score" means the statistical method for computing the severity

 7  of injury sustained by trauma patients. The International

 8  Classification Injury Severity Score shall be the methodology

 9  used by the department and trauma centers to report the

10  severity of an injury.

11         (6)(5)  "Level I trauma center" means a trauma center

12  that:

13         (a)  Has formal research and education programs for the

14  enhancement of trauma care; is verified by the department to

15  be in substantial compliance with Level I trauma center and

16  pediatric trauma center standards; and has been approved by

17  the department to operate as a Level I trauma center.

18         (b)  Serves as a resource facility to Level II trauma

19  centers, pediatric trauma centers, and general hospitals

20  through shared outreach, education, and quality improvement

21  activities.

22         (c)  Participates in an inclusive system of trauma

23  care, including providing leadership, system evaluation, and

24  quality improvement activities.

25         (7)(6)  "Level II trauma center" means a trauma center

26  that:

27         (a)  Is verified by the department to be in substantial

28  compliance with Level II trauma center standards and has been

29  approved by the department to operate as a Level II trauma

30  center.

31  

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    Florida Senate - 2006                                  SB 1532
    7-1189-06                                           See HB 715




 1         (b)  Serves as a resource facility to general hospitals

 2  through shared outreach, education, and quality improvement

 3  activities.

 4         (c)  Participates in an inclusive system of trauma

 5  care.

 6         (8)(7)  "Pediatric trauma center" means a hospital that

 7  is verified by the department to be in substantial compliance

 8  with pediatric trauma center standards as established by rule

 9  of the department and has been approved by the department to

10  operate as a pediatric trauma center.

11         (9)(8)  "Provisional trauma center" means a hospital

12  that has been verified by the department to be in substantial

13  compliance with the requirements in s. 395.4025 and has been

14  approved by the department to operate as a provisional Level I

15  trauma center, Level II trauma center, or pediatric trauma

16  center.

17         (10)(9)  "Trauma agency" means a department-approved

18  agency established and operated by one or more counties, or a

19  department-approved entity with which one or more counties

20  contract, for the purpose of administering an inclusive

21  regional trauma system.

22         (11)(10)  "Trauma alert victim" means a person who has

23  incurred a single or multisystem injury due to blunt or

24  penetrating means or burns, who requires immediate medical

25  intervention or treatment, and who meets one or more of the

26  adult or pediatric scorecard criteria established by the

27  department by rule.

28         (12)  "Trauma caseload volume" means the number of

29  trauma patients reported by individual trauma centers to the

30  Trauma Registry and validated by the department.

31  

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    Florida Senate - 2006                                  SB 1532
    7-1189-06                                           See HB 715




 1         (13)(11)  "Trauma center" means a hospital that has

 2  been verified by the department to be in substantial

 3  compliance with the requirements in s. 395.4025 and has been

 4  approved by the department to operate as a Level I trauma

 5  center, Level II trauma center, or pediatric trauma center.

 6         (14)  "Trauma patient" means a person who has incurred

 7  a physical injury or wound caused by trauma and has accessed a

 8  trauma center.

 9         (15)(12)  "Trauma scorecard" means a statewide

10  methodology adopted by the department by rule under which a

11  person who has incurred a traumatic injury is graded as to the

12  severity of his or her injuries or illness and which

13  methodology is used as the basis for making destination

14  decisions.

15         (16)(13)  "Trauma transport protocol" means a document

16  which describes the policies, processes, and procedures

17  governing the dispatch of vehicles, the triage, prehospital

18  transport, and interfacility trauma transfer of trauma

19  victims.

20         (17)(14)  "Trauma victim" means any person who has

21  incurred a single or multisystem injury due to blunt or

22  penetrating means or burns and who requires immediate medical

23  intervention or treatment.

24         Section 2.  Section 395.4035, Florida Statutes, is

25  repealed.

26         Section 3.  Subsection (1) of section 395.4036, Florida

27  Statutes, is amended to read:

28         395.4036  Trauma payments.--

29         (1)  Recognizing the Legislature's stated intent to

30  provide financial support to the current verified trauma

31  centers and to provide incentives for the establishment of

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    Florida Senate - 2006                                  SB 1532
    7-1189-06                                           See HB 715




 1  additional trauma centers as part of a system of

 2  state-sponsored trauma centers, the department shall utilize

 3  funds collected under s. 318.18(15)(14) and deposited into the

 4  Administrative Trust Fund of the department to ensure the

 5  availability and accessibility of trauma services throughout

 6  the state as provided in this subsection.

 7         (a)  Twenty percent of the total funds collected under

 8  this subsection during the state fiscal year shall be

 9  distributed to verified trauma centers located in a region

10  that have has a local funding contribution as of December 31.

11  Distribution of funds under this paragraph shall be based on

12  the department's audited Trauma Registry trauma caseload

13  volume for the previous calendar year.

14         (b)  Forty percent of the total funds collected under

15  this subsection shall be distributed to verified trauma

16  centers based on trauma caseload volume of the previous

17  calendar year. The determination of caseload volume for

18  distribution of funds under this paragraph shall be based on

19  the department's audited Trauma Registry data.

20         (c)  Forty percent of the total funds collected under

21  this subsection shall be distributed to verified trauma

22  centers based on severity of trauma patients. The

23  determination of severity for distribution of funds under this

24  paragraph shall be based on the department's audited Trauma

25  Registry International Classification Injury Severity Scores

26  and other statistically valid and scientifically accepted

27  methods of stratifying a trauma patient's severity of injury,

28  risk of mortality, and resource consumption as adopted by the

29  department by rule, weighted based on the costs associated

30  with and incurred by the trauma center in treating trauma

31  

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    Florida Senate - 2006                                  SB 1532
    7-1189-06                                           See HB 715




 1  patients. The weighting of scores shall be established by the

 2  department by rule scores of 1-14 and 15 plus.

 3  

 4  Funds deposited in the department's Administrative Trust Fund

 5  for verified trauma centers may be used to maximize the

 6  receipt of federal funds that may be available for such trauma

 7  centers. Notwithstanding this section and s. 318.14,

 8  distributions to trauma centers may be adjusted in a manner to

 9  ensure that total payments to trauma centers represent the

10  same proportional allocation as set forth in this section and

11  s. 318.14. For purposes of this section and s. 318.14, total

12  funds distributed to trauma centers may include revenue from

13  the Administrative Trust Fund and federal funds for which

14  revenue from the Administrative Trust Fund is used to meet

15  state or local matching requirements. Trauma centers may

16  request that their distributions from the Administrative Trust

17  Fund be used as intergovernmental transfer funds in the

18  Medicaid program.

19         Section 4.  Paragraph (c) is added to subsection (1) of

20  section 395.404, Florida Statutes, to read:

21         395.404  Review of trauma registry data; report to

22  central registry; confidentiality and limited release.--

23         (1)

24         (c)  An independent entity shall annually audit trauma

25  registry data and submit the audit report to the department.

26         Section 5.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2006.

27  

28  

29  

30  

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