Florida Senate - 2019 SB 1460
By Senator Book
32-01040A-19 20191460__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to stroke centers; amending s.
3 395.3038, F.S.; revising the criteria for hospitals to
4 be included on the state list of stroke centers by the
5 Agency for Health Care Administration; removing
6 provisions requiring the agency to adopt rules
7 establishing the criteria for such list; amending s.
8 395.30381, F.S.; revising provisions relating to the
9 statewide stroke registry to conform to changes made
10 by the act; amending s. 395.3039, F.S.; revising
11 provisions prohibiting the advertisement of a hospital
12 as a state-listed stroke center, unless certain
13 conditions are met, to conform to changes made by the
14 act; amending s. 395.3041, F.S.; requiring the
15 Department of Health and the medical director of each
16 licensed emergency medical services provider to
17 develop and implement protocols for the assessment,
18 treatment, transport, and rerouting of suspected
19 stroke patients to certain stroke centers; requiring
20 that such protocols include specified plans for the
21 triage and transport of suspected stroke patients;
22 providing an effective date.
23
24 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
25
26 Section 1. Subsection (1), paragraph (a) of subsection (2),
27 and subsection (3) of section 395.3038, Florida Statutes, are
28 amended to read:
29 395.3038 State-listed stroke centers; notification of
30 hospitals.—
31 (1) The agency shall make available on its website and to
32 the department a list of the name and address of each hospital
33 that is certified by a nationally recognized certifying
34 organization as meets the criteria for an acute stroke ready
35 center, a primary stroke center, a thrombectomy-capable stroke
36 center, or a comprehensive stroke center. The list of stroke
37 centers must include only those hospitals that have submitted
38 documentation to the agency verifying their certification as an
39 acute stroke ready center, a primary stroke center, a
40 thrombectomy-capable stroke center, or a comprehensive stroke
41 center, which may include, but is not limited to, any stroke
42 center that offers and performs mechanical endovascular therapy
43 consistent with the rigorous standards identified by the Joint
44 Commission, the American Heart Association, the American Stroke
45 Association, or any other nationally recognized guidelines-based
46 organization approved by the agency that attest in an affidavit
47 submitted to the agency that the hospital meets the named
48 criteria, or those hospitals that attest in an affidavit
49 submitted to the agency that the hospital is certified as an
50 acute stroke ready center, a primary stroke center, or a
51 comprehensive stroke center by a nationally recognized
52 accrediting organization.
53 (2)(a) If a hospital no longer chooses to be certified by a
54 nationally recognized certifying organization or has not
55 attained certification consistent with meet the criteria in
56 subsection (1) as for an acute stroke ready center, a primary
57 stroke center, a thrombectomy-capable stroke center, or a
58 comprehensive stroke center, the hospital shall notify the
59 agency and the agency shall immediately remove the hospital from
60 the list of stroke centers.
61 (3) The agency shall adopt by rule criteria for an acute
62 stroke ready center, a primary stroke center, and a
63 comprehensive stroke center which are substantially similar to
64 the certification standards for the same categories of stroke
65 centers of a nationally recognized accrediting organization.
66 Section 2. Section 395.30381, Florida Statutes, is amended
67 to read:
68 395.30381 Statewide stroke registry.—
69 (1) Subject to a specific appropriation, the department
70 shall contract with a private entity to establish and maintain a
71 statewide stroke registry to ensure that the stroke performance
72 measures required to be submitted under subsection (2) are
73 maintained and available for use to improve or modify the stroke
74 care system, ensure compliance with standards and nationally
75 recognized guidelines, and monitor stroke patient outcomes.
76 (2) Each acute stroke ready center, primary stroke center,
77 thrombectomy-capable stroke center, and comprehensive stroke
78 center shall regularly report to the statewide stroke registry
79 information containing specified by the department, including
80 nationally recognized stroke performance measures.
81 (3) The department shall require the contracted private
82 entity to use a nationally recognized platform to collect data
83 from each stroke center on the stroke performance measures
84 required in subsection (2). The contracted private entity shall
85 provide regular reports to the department on the data collected.
86 (4) A No liability of any kind or character for damages or
87 other relief shall not arise or be enforced against any acute
88 stroke ready center, primary stroke center, thrombectomy-capable
89 stroke center, or comprehensive stroke center by reason of
90 having provided such information to the statewide stroke
91 registry.
92 Section 3. Section 395.3039, Florida Statutes, is amended
93 to read:
94 395.3039 Advertising restrictions.—A person may not
95 advertise to the public, by way of any medium whatsoever, that a
96 hospital is a state-listed primary or comprehensive stroke
97 center unless the hospital has submitted documentation to the
98 agency verifying that it is certified and meets the criteria
99 provided notice to the agency as required in s. 395.3038 by this
100 act.
101 Section 4. Subsections (1), (3), and (4) of section
102 395.3041, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
103 395.3041 Emergency medical services providers; triage and
104 transportation of stroke victims to a stroke center.—
105 (1) By June 1 of each year, the department shall send the
106 list of acute stroke ready centers, primary stroke centers,
107 thrombectomy-capable stroke centers, and comprehensive stroke
108 centers to the medical director of each licensed emergency
109 medical services provider in the this state.
110 (3) The department and the medical director of each
111 licensed emergency medical services provider shall develop and
112 implement assessment, treatment, transport, and rerouting
113 transport-destination protocols for stroke patients with the
114 intent to assess, treat, and transport, and reroute stroke
115 patients to acute stroke ready centers, primary stroke centers,
116 thrombectomy-capable stroke centers, and comprehensive stroke
117 centers. The protocols must include plans for the triage and
118 transport of suspected stroke patients, including, but not
119 limited to, patients who may have an emergent large vessel
120 occlusion, to an appropriate facility within a specified
121 timeframe after such patients exhibit the sudden onset of
122 stroke-related symptoms. In developing the protocols, the
123 department and the medical director of each licensed emergency
124 medical services provider must consider the capability of an
125 emergency receiving facility to improve outcomes for patients
126 who are suspected, based on clinical severity, of having an
127 emergent large vessel occlusion the most appropriate hospital.
128 (4) Each emergency medical services provider licensed under
129 chapter 401 must comply with all sections of this section and
130 ss. 395.3038-395.3039 act.
131 Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2019.