Florida Senate - 2025                             CS for SB 1602
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Health Policy; and Senator Harrell
       
       
       
       
       
       588-03191-25                                          20251602c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to health care patient protection;
    3         amending s. 395.1012, F.S.; requiring hospital
    4         emergency departments to develop and implement
    5         policies and procedures, conduct training, record
    6         weights in a certain manner, designate a pediatric
    7         emergency care coordinator, and conduct specified
    8         assessments; authorizing a hospital with an emergency
    9         department to conduct the National Pediatric Readiness
   10         Project’s Open Assessment under certain circumstances;
   11         amending s. 395.1055, F.S.; requiring the Agency for
   12         Health Care Administration to adopt certain rules for
   13         comprehensive emergency management plans; requiring
   14         the agency, in consultation with the Florida Emergency
   15         Medical Services for Children State Partnership
   16         Program, to establish minimum standards for pediatric
   17         patient care in hospital emergency departments;
   18         amending s. 408.05, F.S.; requiring the agency to
   19         collect and publish the results of specified
   20         assessments submitted by hospitals by specified dates;
   21         providing requirements for the collection and
   22         publication of the hospitals’ assessment scores;
   23         providing an effective date.
   24          
   25  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   26  
   27         Section 1. Subsections (5) and (6) are added to section
   28  395.1012, Florida Statutes, to read:
   29         395.1012 Patient safety.—
   30         (5)(a)Each hospital with an emergency department must:
   31         1.Develop and implement policies and procedures for
   32  pediatric patient care in the emergency department which reflect
   33  evidence-based best practices relating to, at a minimum:
   34         a.Triage.
   35         b.Measuring and recording vital signs.
   36         c.Weighing and recording weights in kilograms.
   37         d.Calculating medication dosages.
   38         e.Use of pediatric instruments.
   39         2.Conduct training at least annually on the policies and
   40  procedures developed under this subsection. The training must
   41  include, at a minimum:
   42         a.The use of pediatric instruments, as applicable to each
   43  licensure type, using clinical simulation as defined in s.
   44  464.003.
   45         b.Drills that simulate emergency situations. Each
   46  emergency department must conduct drills at least annually.
   47         (b)Each hospital emergency department must:
   48         1.Designate a pediatric emergency care coordinator. The
   49  pediatric emergency care coordinator must be a physician or a
   50  physician assistant licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 459, a
   51  nurse licensed under chapter 464, or a paramedic licensed under
   52  chapter 401. The pediatric emergency care coordinator is
   53  responsible for implementation of and ensuring fidelity to the
   54  policies and procedures adopted under this subsection.
   55         2.Conduct the National Pediatric Readiness Assessment
   56  developed by the National Pediatric Readiness Project, in
   57  accordance with timelines established by the National Pediatric
   58  Readiness Project.
   59         (6)Each hospital with an emergency department may conduct
   60  the National Pediatric Readiness Project’s Open Assessment
   61  during a year in which the National Pediatric Readiness
   62  Assessment is not conducted.
   63         Section 2. Present subsections (4) through (19) of section
   64  395.1055, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (5)
   65  through (20), respectively, a new subsection (4) is added to
   66  that section, and paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of that
   67  section is amended, to read:
   68         395.1055 Rules and enforcement.—
   69         (1) The agency shall adopt rules pursuant to ss. 120.536(1)
   70  and 120.54 to implement the provisions of this part, which shall
   71  include reasonable and fair minimum standards for ensuring that:
   72         (c) A comprehensive emergency management plan is prepared
   73  and updated annually. Such standards must be included in the
   74  rules adopted by the agency after consulting with the Division
   75  of Emergency Management. At a minimum, the rules must provide
   76  for plan components that address emergency evacuation
   77  transportation; adequate sheltering arrangements; postdisaster
   78  activities, including emergency power, food, and water;
   79  postdisaster transportation; supplies; staffing; emergency
   80  equipment; individual identification of residents and transfer
   81  of records, and responding to family inquiries, and the needs of
   82  pediatric and neonatal patients. The comprehensive emergency
   83  management plan is subject to review and approval by the local
   84  emergency management agency. During its review, the local
   85  emergency management agency shall ensure that the following
   86  agencies, at a minimum, are given the opportunity to review the
   87  plan: the Department of Elderly Affairs, the Department of
   88  Health, the Agency for Health Care Administration, and the
   89  Division of Emergency Management. Also, appropriate volunteer
   90  organizations must be given the opportunity to review the plan.
   91  The local emergency management agency shall complete its review
   92  within 60 days and either approve the plan or advise the
   93  facility of necessary revisions.
   94         (4)The agency, in consultation with the Florida Emergency
   95  Medical Services for Children State Partnership Program, shall
   96  adopt rules that establish minimum standards for pediatric
   97  patient care in hospital emergency departments, including, but
   98  not limited to, availability and immediate access to pediatric
   99  specific equipment and supplies.
  100         Section 3. Paragraph (n) is added to subsection (3) of
  101  section 408.05, Florida Statutes, to read:
  102         408.05 Florida Center for Health Information and
  103  Transparency.—
  104         (3) HEALTH INFORMATION TRANSPARENCY.—In order to
  105  disseminate and facilitate the availability of comparable and
  106  uniform health information, the agency shall perform the
  107  following functions:
  108         (n)1.Collect the overall assessment score of National
  109  Pediatric Readiness Assessments conducted by hospital emergency
  110  departments pursuant to s. 395.1012(5), from the Florida
  111  Emergency Medical Services for Children State Partnership
  112  Program by December 31, 2026, and by each December 31 during a
  113  year in which the National Pediatric Readiness Assessment is
  114  conducted thereafter.
  115         2.By April 1, 2027, and each April 1 following a year in
  116  which the National Pediatric Readiness Assessment is conducted
  117  thereafter, publish the overall assessment score for each
  118  hospital emergency department, and provide a comparison to the
  119  national average score when it becomes available.
  120         3.Collect and publish no more than one overall assessment
  121  score per hospital, per year, of assessments conducted pursuant
  122  to s. 395.1012(6), and provide a comparison to the hospital
  123  emergency department’s most recently published score pursuant to
  124  subparagraph 2.
  125         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.