H. B. 2722
(By Delegate Gallagher)
[Introduced February 24, 1995; referred to the
Committee on Health and Human Resources.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section five-a, article five-b,
chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to periodic
license inspections of hospitals; exemptions; annual
self-evaluations; and confidentiality of accreditation
reports.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section five-a, article five-b, chapter sixteen of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5B. HOSPITALS AND SIMILAR INSTITUTIONS.
§16-5B-5a. Accreditation reports accepted for periodic license
inspections.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, a
periodic license inspection shall not be conducted by the state
department of health and human resources for a hospital if the
hospital has applied for and received an exemption from such that
requirement: Provided, That no exemption so granted shall
diminish diminishes the right of the state department of health
and human resources to conduct complaint inspections: Provided,
however, That no exemption so granted shall relieve relieves a
hospital from compliance with section six-a of this article.
The state department of health and human resources shall
grant an exemption from a periodic license inspection during the
year following accreditation if a hospital applies by submitting
evidence of its accreditation by the joint commission on
accreditation of health care organizations or the American
osteopathic association and submits a complete copy of such the
commission's accreditation report.
If the accreditation of a hospital is for a period longer
than one year, the state department of health and human resources shall may conduct at least one license inspection of the hospital
after the first year of accreditation and before the
accreditation has expired and may conduct additional license
inspections if needed. Hospitals receiving a three-year
accreditation, shall conduct annual self-evaluations using the
current year accreditation manual for hospitals (AMH) unless the
state department of health and human resources informs the
hospital that the hospital will be inspected by the state
department of health and human resources. Hospitals are not
required to conduct self-evaluations for any calendar year during
which they are inspected by the state department of health and
human resources. These self-evaluations shall be completed and
placed on file in the hospital by the thirty-first day of March
of each year. Hospitals shall make the results of the
self-evaluation available to the state department of health and
human resources if requested.
Accreditation reports filed with the state department of
health and human resources shall be treated as confidential in
accordance with section ten of this article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to exempt hospitals with
a three-year accreditation from a periodic license inspection,
while requiring them to perform annual self-evaluations based on
the most recent Accreditation Manual for Hospitals (AMH).