Florida Senate - 2014 SB 1192
By Senator Sobel
33-01459-14 20141192__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to palliative care; defining terms;
3 creating the Palliative Care and Quality of Life
4 Interdisciplinary Advisory Council; specifying the
5 purpose of the council; providing for membership of
6 the council; requiring the Department of Health to
7 provide staff, information, and other assistance as
8 necessary to the council; requiring the department to
9 set regular meeting times for the council; requiring
10 the council to adopt certain internal organization
11 procedures; authorizing reimbursement for certain
12 expenses for council members; requiring the department
13 to establish a palliative care consumer and
14 professional information and education program;
15 requiring the department to publish certain
16 educational information and materials about palliative
17 care on the department website; authorizing the
18 department to develop and implement other services and
19 education initiatives regarding palliative care;
20 requiring the department to consult with the council
21 to implement this act; requiring certain health care
22 practitioners to provide certain patients information
23 about palliative care and information about facilities
24 that offer palliative care; requiring certain health
25 care facilities to comply with palliative care
26 measures ordered by a patient’s health care
27 practitioner; providing an effective date.
28
29 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
30
31 Section 1. Palliative Care and Quality of Life
32 Interdisciplinary Advisory Council; palliative care consumer and
33 professional information and education program.—
34 (1) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section:
35 (a) “Appropriate” means consistent with applicable legal,
36 health, and professional standards, the patient’s clinical and
37 other circumstances, and the patient’s reasonably known wishes
38 and beliefs.
39 (b) “Medical care” means services provided, requested, or
40 supervised by a physician or advanced registered nurse
41 practitioner.
42 (c) “Palliative care” means patient- and family-centered
43 medical care offered throughout the continuum of an illness
44 which optimizes quality of life by anticipating, preventing, and
45 treating suffering caused by serious illness. Palliative care
46 involves addressing physical, emotional, social, and spiritual
47 needs and facilitating patient autonomy, access to information,
48 and choice. The term includes, but is not limited to,
49 discussions of the patient’s goals for treatment; discussion of
50 treatment options appropriate to the patient, including, if
51 appropriate, hospice care; and comprehensive pain and symptom
52 management.
53 (d) “Serious illness” means a medical illness or physical
54 injury or condition that substantially impacts quality of life
55 for more than a short period of time. The term includes, but is
56 not limited to, cancer, renal or liver failure, heart or lung
57 disease, and Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.
58 (2) PALLIATIVE CARE AND QUALITY OF LIFE INTERDISCIPLINARY
59 ADVISORY COUNCIL.—There is established within the Department of
60 Health a Palliative Care and Quality of Life Interdisciplinary
61 Advisory Council, which is an advisory council as defined in s.
62 20.03, Florida Statutes.
63 (a) The primary purpose of the council is to consult with
64 and advise the department on matters relating to the
65 establishment, maintenance, operation, and outcome evaluation of
66 palliative care initiatives in this state.
67 (b) The council shall consist of nine members appointed by
68 the Governor in consultation with the State Surgeon General and
69 include professionals who have expertise in various aspects of
70 palliative care, including, but not limited to,
71 interdisciplinary palliative care, medical, nursing, social
72 work, pharmacy, and spiritual expertise; patient and family
73 caregivers or their advocates; and such other members as the
74 State Surgeon General deems appropriate. The Governor in
75 consultation with the State Surgeon General shall ensure that
76 representation on the council reflects a broad perspective of
77 palliative care and includes experience in palliative care in a
78 variety of inpatient, outpatient, and community settings, such
79 as acute care, long-term care, and hospice, and with a variety
80 of populations, including pediatric, youth, and adult. One
81 council member shall be a designee of the American Cancer
82 Society. At least two council members shall be board-certified
83 hospice and palliative medicine physicians or nurses. Members
84 shall serve for a term of 3 years.
85 (c) The council shall adopt internal organizational
86 procedures as necessary for its efficient organization which
87 must, at a minimum, require the council to elect a chair and
88 vice chair whose duties shall be established by the council.
89 (d) The department shall provide such staff, information,
90 and other assistance as is reasonably necessary to assist the
91 council in carrying out its responsibilities.
92 (e) Members of the council shall serve without
93 compensation, but may receive reimbursement as provided in s.
94 112.061, Florida Statutes, for travel and other necessary
95 expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties.
96 (f) The department shall fix a time and place for regular
97 meetings of the council, which shall meet at least twice a year.
98 (3) PALLIATIVE CARE CONSUMER AND PROFESSIONAL INFORMATION
99 AND EDUCATION PROGRAM.—
100 (a) The department shall establish a palliative care
101 consumer and professional information and education program. The
102 purpose of the program is to maximize the effectiveness of
103 palliative care initiatives in this state by making
104 comprehensive and accurate information and education about
105 palliative care available to the public, health care
106 practitioners, and health care facilities.
107 (b) The department shall publish on its website information
108 and resources, including links to external resources, about
109 palliative care, which shall include, but not be limited to,
110 continuing education opportunities for health care
111 practitioners, information about palliative care delivery in the
112 home and in primary, secondary, and tertiary care settings, best
113 practices for palliative care delivery, and consumer educational
114 materials and referral information for palliative care,
115 including hospice.
116 (c) The department may develop and implement other
117 initiatives regarding palliative care services and education to
118 further the purposes of this section.
119 (d) The department shall consult with the Palliative Care
120 and Quality of Life Interdisciplinary Advisory Council in
121 implementing this subsection.
122 Section 2. Palliative care for health care practitioners
123 and facilities.—Health care practitioners regulated under
124 chapter 458, chapter 459, or chapter 464, Florida Statutes,
125 shall, as appropriate, provide patients under their care who
126 have serious illnesses with information about palliative care
127 and, upon request, shall facilitate access to palliative care.
128 Facilities regulated under chapter 395, chapter 400, or chapter
129 429, Florida Statutes, shall comply with the palliative care
130 measures ordered by the patient’s health care practitioner.
131 Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.