HB 1193

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to patient handling and moving practices;
3	creating s. 381.029, F.S.; providing definitions;
4	requiring hospitals and nursing homes to adopt and
5	implement a safe patient handling and moving policy and
6	providing requirements thereof; providing for the
7	incorporation of patient handling and moving equipment
8	into certain architectural plans for construction or
9	remodeling of a hospital or nursing home or units thereof;
10	providing certain protection for employees of hospitals
11	and nursing homes who report certain violations or
12	suspected violations; providing rulemaking authority to
13	the agency; amending s. 395.701, F.S.; permitting
14	hospitals to claim credit to cover cost of specified
15	equipment against an annual assessment under certain
16	circumstances; requiring submission of certain information
17	to receive a credit; providing a limitation on credit
18	earned; providing an effective date.
19
20	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
21
22	Section 1.  Section 381.029, Florida Statutes, is created
23	to read:
24	381.029  Safe patient handling and moving practices.--
25	(1)  As used in this section:
26	(a)  "Agency" means the Agency for Health Care
27	Administration.
28	(b)  "Good faith" means that an employee believes that the
29	information he or she reported or disclosed is true and that a
30	violation has occurred or may occur.
31	(c)  "Hospital" means a facility licensed under chapter
32	395.
33	(d)  "Minimal-lift philosophy" means to the greatest extent
34	possible minimizing lifting tasks, encouraging a patient to
35	assist with any lifting or moving activities without
36	exacerbating his or her condition or putting himself or herself
37	at risk, and avoiding any handling that involves manually
38	lifting or moving the whole or a large part of a patient's
39	weight.
40	(e)  "Nurse" means a registered nurse, a licensed practical
41	nurse, or an advanced registered nurse practitioner as those
42	terms are defined in s. 464.003.
43	(f)  "Nursing home" means a facility licensed under part II
44	of chapter 400.
45	(2)(a)  The governing body of a hospital or nursing home
46	shall adopt and ensure implementation of a policy and program to
47	identify, develop, and assess strategies to control the risk of
48	injury to patients and nurses associated with lifting,
49	transferring, repositioning, or moving a patient.
50	(b)  The policy shall be consistent with a minimal-lift
51	philosophy and establish a process that, at a minimum, includes:
52	1.  Analysis of the risk of injury to patients, nurses, and
53	health care workers posed by the handling and moving needs of
54	the patient populations served by the hospital or nursing home
55	and the physical environment in which patient handling and
56	moving occurs.
57	2.  Education of a back injury resource nurse to serve as
58	an expert resource and educational source for all nurses in the
59	identification, assessment, and control of risks of injury to
60	patients and nurses during patient handling and moving.
61	3.  Evaluation of alternative ways to reduce risks
62	associated with patient handling and moving, including
63	evaluation of equipment and the environment.
64	4.  Establishment of a program that will eliminate manual
65	lifting, repositioning, and moving of patients based on current
66	research and practice.
67	5.  Acquisition of, training with, and deployment of
68	sufficient equipment and aids so that manual lifting,
69	repositioning, or moving all or most of a patient's weight is
70	restricted to emergency, life-threatening, or otherwise
71	exceptional circumstances.
72	6.  Collaboration between the staffing committee and the
73	nurse and the submission of an annual report to the committee.
74	7.  Procedures that a nurse may employ to refuse to perform
75	or be involved in patient handling or moving that the nurse
76	believes in good faith will expose the patient or the nurse to
77	an unacceptable risk of injury.
78	8.  Submission of an annual report to the governing body of
79	the hospital or nursing home and the agency on activities
80	related to the identification, assessment, and development of
81	strategies to control risk of injury to patients, nurses, and
82	other health care workers associated with lifting, transferring,
83	repositioning, or moving a patient.
84	9.  Development of a process to identify the appropriate
85	use of the safe patient handling policy based on the patient's
86	physical and medical condition and the availability of lifting
87	equipment or lift teams.
88	10.  Conducting an annual performance evaluation of the
89	program to determine its effectiveness and reporting the results
90	of the evaluation to the safe patient handling committee. The
91	evaluation shall determine the extent to which implementation of
92	the program has resulted in a reduction in musculoskeletal
93	disorder claims and days of lost work attributable to
94	musculoskeletal disorders caused by patient handling and include
95	recommendations to increase the program's effectiveness.
96	11.  Publication of the policy and plan for implementation
97	of the program and of the results of an annual evaluation that
98	uses data analysis to measure the success of the program.
99	(3)  The feasibility of incorporating patient handling and
100	moving equipment or the physical space and construction design
101	needed to incorporate that equipment at a later date shall be
102	considered in the development of architectural plans for
103	constructing or remodeling a hospital or nursing home or a unit
104	of a hospital or nursing home in which patient handling and
105	moving occurs.
106	(4)  A hospital or nursing home may not penalize,
107	discriminate against, or retaliate in any manner against an
108	employee with respect to compensation for, or terms, conditions,
109	or privileges of, employment if such an employee in good faith,
110	individually or in conjunction with another person or persons:
111	(a)  Reports a violation or suspected violation of this
112	section to a regulatory agency, private accrediting body, or
113	management personnel of the hospital or nursing home;
114	(b)  Initiates, cooperates in, or otherwise participates in
115	an investigation or proceeding brought by a regulatory agency or
116	private accrediting body concerning matters covered by this
117	section;
118	(c)  Informs or discusses with any other employee, with any
119	representative of an employee, or with the public violations or
120	suspected violations of this section; or
121	(d)  Otherwise avails himself or herself of the rights set
122	forth in this section.
123	(5)  The agency shall develop rules for administering this
124	section that require compliance with policy development and
125	reporting by January 1, 2008, and full implementation of safe
126	handling and moving policies by July 1, 2012.
127	Section 2.  Subsection (7) is added to section 395.701,
128	Florida Statutes, to read:
129	395.701  Annual assessments on net operating revenues for
130	inpatient and outpatient services to fund public medical
131	assistance; administrative fines for failure to pay assessments
132	when due; exemption.--
133	(7)(a)  Beginning January 1, 2008, and continuing through
134	December 31, 2012, when computing the annual assessment for
135	inpatient revenue, as required under paragraph (2)(a), any
136	hospital may claim credit for the amount spent during each
137	fiscal year for the purchase of mechanical lifting devices and
138	other equipment that is primarily used to minimize patient
139	handling by health care providers, consistent with a safe
140	patient handling program developed and implemented by the
141	hospital in compliance with s. 381.029(2). The credit is equal
142	to 100 percent of the cost of the mechanical lifting devices or
143	other equipment. A credit earned during one fiscal year may be
144	carried over to be credited against the assessment required
145	under paragraph (2)(a) incurred in a subsequent fiscal year.
146	Refunds may not be granted for credits under this subsection.
147	(b)  An application is not required to receive the credit.
148	However, a hospital receiving a credit under this subsection must
149	maintain and submit records, as required by the agency, necessary
150	to verify eligibility for the credit.
151	(c)   The total maximum credit that may be earned under
152	this subsection for each hospital is limited to $1,000 for each
153	acute care available inpatient bed.
154	Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2007.

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