128600-128605

HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE
SECTION 128600-128605




128600.  The Legislature finds and declares that the oversight and
reporting requirements of the demonstration project established in
this section are equal to, or exceed similar licensing standards for
other health facilities.
   (a) The Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development shall
conduct a demonstration project to evaluate the accommodation of
postsurgical care patients for periods not exceeding two days, except
that the attending physician and surgeon may require that the stay
be extended to no more than three days.
   (b) (1) The demonstration project shall operate for a period not
to exceed six years, for no more than 12 project sites, one of which
shall be located in Fresno County. However, the demonstration project
shall be extended an additional six years, to September 30, 2000,
only for those project sites that were approved by the Office of
Statewide Health Planning and Development and operational prior to
January 1, 1994.
   (2) Any of the 12 project sites may be distinct parts of health
facilities, or any of those sites may be physically freestanding from
health facilities. None of the project sites that are designated as
distinct parts of health facilities, shall be located in the service
area of any one of the six freestanding project sites. None of the
project sites that are designated as distinct parts of health
facilities shall have a service area that overlaps with any one or
more service areas of the freestanding pilot sites. For the purposes
of this section, service area shall be defined by the office.
   (c) (1) The office shall establish standards for participation,
commensurate with the needs of postsurgical care patients requiring
temporary nursing services following outpatient surgical procedures.
   (2) In preparing the standards for participation, the office may,
as appropriate, consult with the State Department of Health Services
and a technical advisory committee that may be appointed by the
Director of the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development.
The committee shall have no more than eight members, all of whom
shall be experts in health care, as determined by the director of the
office. One of the members of the committee shall, as determined by
the director of the office, have specific expertise in the area of
pediatric surgery and recovery care.
   (3) If a technical advisory committee is established by the
director of the office, members of the committee shall be reimbursed
for any actual and necessary expenses incurred in connection with
their duties as members of the committee.
   (d) Not later than six months prior to the conclusion of the
demonstration project, the office shall submit an evaluation of the
demonstration project to the Legislature on the effectiveness and
safety of the demonstration project in providing recovery services to
patients receiving outpatient surgical services. The office, as part
of the evaluation, shall include recommendations regarding the
establishment of a new license category or amendment of existing
licensing standards.
   (e) The office shall establish and administer the demonstration
project in facilities with no more than 20 beds that continuously
meet the standards of skilled nursing facilities licensed under
subdivision (c) of Section 1250, except that the office may, as
appropriate and unless a danger to patients would be created,
eliminate or modify the standards. This section shall not prohibit
general acute care hospitals from participating in the demonstration
project. The office may waive those building standards applicable to
a project site that is a distinct part of a health facility that are
inappropriate, as determined by the office, to the demonstration
project. Notwithstanding health facility licensing regulations
contained in Division 5 (commencing with Section 70001) of Title 22
of the California Code of Regulations, a project site that is a
distinct part of a health facility shall comply with all standards
for participation established by the office and with all regulations
adopted by the office to implement this section. A project site that
is a distinct part of a health facility shall not, for the duration
of the pilot project, be subject to Division 5 (commencing with
Section 70001) of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations
which conflict, as determined by the office, with the demonstration
project standards or regulations.
   (f) The office shall issue a facility identification number to
each facility selected for participation in the demonstration
project.
   (g) Persons who wish to establish recovery care programs shall
make application to the office for inclusion in the pilot program.
Applications shall be made on forms provided by the office and shall
contain sufficient information determined as necessary by the office.
   (h) As a condition of participation in the pilot program, each
applicant shall agree to provide statistical data and patient
information that the office deems necessary for effective evaluation.
It is the intent of the Legislature that the office shall develop
procedures to assure the confidentiality of patient information and
shall only disclose patient information, including name
identification, as is necessary pursuant to this section or any other
law.
   (i) Any authorized officer, employee, or agent of the office may,
upon presentation of proper identification, enter and inspect any
building or premises and any records, including patient records, of a
pilot project participant at any reasonable time to review
compliance with, or to prevent any violation of, this section or the
regulations and standards adopted thereunder.
   (j) The office may suspend or withdraw approval of any or all
pilot projects with notice, but without hearing if it determines that
patient safety is being jeopardized.
   (k) The office may charge applicants and participants in the
program a reasonable fee to cover its actual cost of administering
the pilot program and the cost of any committee established by this
section. The facilities participating in the pilot project shall pay
fees that equal the amount of any increase in fiscal costs incurred
by the state as a result of the extension of the pilot project until
September 30, 2000, pursuant to subdivision (b).
   ( l) The office may contract with a medical consultant or other
advisers as necessary, as determined by the office. Due to the
necessity to expedite the demonstration project and its extremely
specialized nature, the contracts shall be exempt from Section 10373
of the Public Contract Code, and shall be considered sole-source
contracts.
   (m) The office may adopt emergency regulations to implement this
section in accordance with Section 11346.1 of the Government Code,
except that the regulations shall be exempt from the requirements of
subdivisions (e), (f), and (g) of that section. The regulations shall
be deemed an emergency for the purposes of Section 11346.1.
   Applications to establish any of the four project sites authorized
by the amendments made to this section during the 1987-88 Regular
Session of the California Legislature shall be considered by the
office from among the applications submitted to it in response to its
initial request for proposal process.
   (n) Any administrative opinion, decision, waiver, permit, or
finding issued by the office prior to July 1, 1990, with respect to
any of the demonstration projects approved by the office prior to
July 1, 1990, shall automatically be extended by the office to remain
fully effective as long as the demonstration projects are required
to operate pursuant to this section.
   (o) The office shall not grant approval to a postsurgical recovery
care facility, as defined in Section 97500.111 of Title 22 of the
California Code of Regulations, that is freestanding, as defined in
Section 97500.49 of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations,
to begin operation as a participating demonstration project if it is
located in the County of Solano.
   (p) Participants in the demonstration program for postsurgical
recovery facilities shall not be precluded from receiving
reimbursement from, or conducting good faith negotiations with, a
third-party payor solely on the basis that the participant is engaged
in a demonstration program and accordingly is not licensed.



128605.  (a) In addition to the 12 postsurgical care demonstration
project sites authorized in Section 128600, the office may approve
one additional freestanding demonstration project, in accordance with
the requirements of Section 128600, in a site that is in a rural
area. For the purposes of this section, "rural area" means any area
of the state that is not in a metropolitan statistical area as
described in the publication "State and Metropolitan Area Data Book,"
1986, published by the United States Department of Commerce.
   (b) In order to receive applications for this one additional rural
project site, the office shall accept additional applications until
October 31, 1988.