Senate Bill No. 353
(By Senators Ross, Love, Wagner and Oliverio)
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[Introduced February 9, 1996;
referred to the Committee on Health and Human Resources.]
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A BILL to repeal article five-h, chapter sixteen of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended; to amend and reenact sections two, three, six and
nine, article five-c of said chapter; to amend and reenact
section two, article five-e of said chapter; to amend and
reenact section three, article five-l of said chapter; and
to amend and reenact section sixteen-c, article five,
chapter thirty of said code, all relating to removing all
reference to residential board and care homes from the code.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article five-h, chapter sixteen of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be repealed; that sections two, three, six and nine, article five-c
of said chapter be amended and reenacted; that section two,
article five-e of said chapter be amended and reenacted; that
section three, article five-l of said chapter be amended and
reenacted; and that section sixteen-c, article five, chapter
thirty of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as
follows:
CHAPTER 16. PUBLIC HEALTH.
ARTICLE 5C. NURSING AND PERSONAL CARE HOMES.
§16-5C-2. Definitions.
As used in this article, unless a different meaning appears
from the context:
(a) The term "director" means the secretary of the
department of health and human resources or his or her designee;
(b) The term "facility" means any nursing home or personal
care home or residential board and care home as defined in
subdivisions (d) and (e) and (f) of this section: Provided, That
the care or treatment in a household, whether for compensation or
not, of any person related by blood or marriage, within the
degree of consanguinity of second cousin to the head of the
household, or his or her spouse, may not be deemed to constitute a nursing home or personal care home or residential board and
care home within the meaning of this article. Nothing contained
in this article applies to hospitals, as defined under section
one, article five-b of this chapter; or state institutions, as
defined under section three, article one, chapter twenty-five of
this code or section six, article one, chapter twenty-seven of
this code; or nursing homes operated by the federal government or
the state government; or institutions operated for the treatment
and care of alcoholic patients; or offices of physicians; or
hotels, boarding homes or other similar places that furnish to
their guests only room and board; or extended care facilities
operated in conjunction with a hospital; or to homes or asylums
operated by fraternal orders pursuant to article three, chapter
thirty-five of this code;
(c) The term "limited and intermittent nursing care" means
care which may only be provided when the need for such care meets
these factors: (1) The resident requests to remain in the
facility; (2) the resident is advised of the availability of
other specialized health care facilities to treat his or her
condition; and (3) the need for such care is the result of a
medical pathology or a result of the normal aging process. Limited and intermittent nursing care shall only be provided by
or under the direct supervision of a registered professional
nurse and in accordance with rules promulgated by the board of
health;
(d) The term "nursing home" means any institution, residence
or place, or any part or unit thereof, however named, in this
state which is advertised, offered, maintained or operated by the
ownership or management, whether for a consideration or not, for
the express or implied purpose of providing accommodations and
care, for a period of more than twenty-four hours, for four or
more persons who are ill or otherwise incapacitated and in need
of extensive, on-going nursing care due to physical or mental
impairment or which provides services for the rehabilitation of
persons who are convalescing from illness or incapacitation;
(e) The term "personal care home" means any institution,
residence or place, or any part or unit thereof, however named,
in this state which is advertised, offered, maintained or
operated by the ownership or management, whether for a
consideration or not, for the express or implied purpose of
providing accommodations and personal assistance and supervision,
for a period of more than twenty-four hours, to four or more persons more than ten persons where the majority of these persons
are medicaid eligible or SSI recipients, who are dependent upon
the services of others by reason of physical or mental impairment
who may require limited and intermittent nursing care, including
those individuals who qualify for and are receiving services
coordinated by a licensed hospice: Provided, That services
utilizing equipment which requires auxiliary electrical power in
the event of a power failure may not be used unless the personal
care home has a backup power generator. Any such institution,
residence or place which provides the accommodations and personal
assistance and supervision for less than eleven persons shall
register as provided in article five-e, chapter sixteen of this
code.
(f) The term "residential board and care home" means any
residence or place, or any part or unit thereof, however named,
in this state which is advertised, offered, maintained or
operated by the ownership or management, whether for
consideration or not, for the express or implied purpose of
providing accommodations and personal assistance and supervision,
for a period of more than twenty-four hours, to four to ten
persons who are not related to the owner or manager by blood or marriage within the degree of consanguinity of second cousin and
are dependent upon the services of others by reason of physical
or mental impairment or who may require limited and intermittent
nursing care but are capable of self-preservation and are not
bedfast, including those individuals who qualify for and are
receiving services coordinated by a licensed hospice: Provided,
That services utilizing equipment which requires auxiliary
electrical power in the event of a power failure may not be used
unless the residential board and care home has a backup power
generator;
(g) (f) The term "nursing care" means those procedures
commonly employed in providing for the physical, emotional and
rehabilitational needs of the ill or otherwise incapacitated
which require technical skills and knowledge beyond that which
the untrained person possesses, including, but not limited to,
such procedures as: Irrigations, catheterizations, special
procedure contributing to rehabilitation and administration of
medication by any method which involves a level of complexity and
skill in administration not possessed by the untrained person;
(h) (g) The term "personal assistance" means personal
services, including, but not limited to, the following: Help in walking, bathing, dressing, feeding or getting in or out of bed,
or supervision required because of the age or mental impairment
of the resident;
(i) (h) The term "patient" means an individual under care in
a nursing home;
(j) (i) The term "resident" means an individual living in a
personal care home; or a residential board and care home
(k) (j) The term "sponsor" means the person or agency
legally responsible for the welfare and support of a patient or
resident;
(l) (k) The term "person" means an individual and every form
of organization, whether incorporated or unincorporated,
including any partnership, corporation, trust, association or
political subdivision of the state.
The director may define in regulations by rule any term used
herein which is not expressly defined.
§16-5C-3. Powers, duties and rights of director.
In the administration of this article, the director shall
have has the following powers, duties and rights:
(a) To enforce rules regulations and standards for nursing
homes and personal care homes and residential board and care homes which are adopted, promulgated, amended or modified by the
board of health;
(b) To exercise as sole authority all powers relating to the
issuance, suspension and revocation of licenses of nursing homes
and personal care homes; and residential board and care homes
(c) To enforce rules adopted, promulgated, amended or
modified by the board of health governing the qualification of
applicants for nursing home or personal care home or residential
board and care home licenses, including, but not limited to,
educational requirements, financial requirements, personal and
ethical requirements;
(d) To receive and disburse federal funds and to take
whatever action not contrary to law as may be proper and
necessary to comply with the requirements and conditions for the
receipt of such the federal funds;
(e) To receive and disburse for authorized purposes any
moneys appropriated to the department of health and human
resources by the Legislature;
(f) To receive and disburse for purposes authorized by this
article, any funds that may come to the department of health and
human resources by gift, grant, donation, bequest or devise, according to the terms thereof, as well as funds derived from the
department of health and human resource's operation, or
otherwise;
(g) To make contracts, and to execute all instruments
necessary or convenient in carrying out the director's functions
and duties; and all such contracts, agreements and instruments
shall be executed by the director;
(h) To appoint officers, agents, employees and other
personnel and fix their compensation;
(i) To offer and sponsor educational and training programs
for nursing homes and personal care homes and residential board
and care home administrative, management and operational
personnel;
(j) To undertake survey, research and planning projects and
programs relating to administration and operation of nursing
homes and personal care homes, and residential board and care
homes and to the health, care, treatment and service in general
of patients and residents of such homes;
(k) To assess civil penalties for violations of facility
standards, in accordance with section ten of this article;
(l) To classify nursing homes into care categories such as skilled nursing facilities, intermediate care facilities, and
other comparable categories under the terms of this article if,
in the opinion of the director, the best interest of the public
is served by doing so;
(m) To inspect any facility and any records maintained
therein, subject to the provisions of section ten of this
article;
(n) To establish and implement procedures, including
informal conferences, investigations and hearings, subject to
applicable provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of
this code, and to enforce compliance with the provisions of this
article and with regulations issued hereunder, by the board of
health;
(o) To subpoena witnesses and documents, administer oaths
and affirmations, and to examine witnesses under oath for the
conduct of any investigation or hearing. Upon failure of a
person without lawful excuse to obey a subpoena to give testimony
and upon reasonable notice to all persons affected thereby, the
director may apply to the circuit court of the county in which
the hearing is to be held or to the circuit court of Kanawha
County for an order compelling compliance;
(p) To make complaint or cause proceedings to be instituted
against any person or persons for the violation of the provisions
of this article or of regulations issued hereunder, by the board
of health. Such action may be taken by the director without the
sanction of the prosecuting attorney of the county in which
proceedings are instituted, if said the officer fails or refuses
to discharge his or her duty. The circuit court of Kanawha
County or the circuit court of the county in which the conduct
has occurred shall have has jurisdiction in all civil enforcement
actions brought under this article and may order equitable relief
without bond. In no such case shall may the director or any
person acting under the director's direction be required to give
security for costs;
(q) To delegate authority to the director's employees and
agents to perform all functions of the director except the making
of final decisions in adjudications;
(r) To submit a report to the governor, the Legislature and
the public, on or before the first day of December, one thousand
nine hundred seventy-eight, and annually thereafter. The report
shall describe the licensing and investigatory activities of the
department during the year, and the nature and status of other activities of the department, and may include comment on the
acts, policies, practices or procedures of any public or private
agency that affect the rights, health or welfare of patients or
residents of nursing homes and personal care homes. The annual
report shall include a list of all nursing homes and personal
care homes and residential board and care homes in the state,
whether such homes are proprietary on nonproprietary, the
classification of each such home; the name of the owner or
owners; the total number of beds, the number of private and semi-
private rooms, the costs per diem for private patients; the
number of full-time employees and their professions; recreational
programs; services and programs available as well as the costs
thereof, the rating assigned to the home by the department
pursuant to section five of this article, and whether or not
those nursing homes listed accept medicare and medicaid patients.
The report shall also contain the department's recommendations as
to changes in law or policy which it deems necessary or
appropriate for the protection of the rights, health or welfare
of patients of nursing homes and personal care homes in the
state; and
(s) The director shall determine which of those requirements listed in subsection (r) will apply to personal care homes. and
residential board and care homes
§16-5C-6. License required; application; fees; duration;
renewal.
Subject to the provisions of section seventeen of this
article, no person may establish, operate, maintain, offer or
advertise a nursing home or personal care home or residential
board and care home within this state unless and until he or she
obtains a valid license therefor as hereinafter provided, which
license remains unsuspended, unrevoked and unexpired. No public
official or employee may place any person in, or recommend that
any person be placed in, or directly or indirectly cause any
person to be placed in, any facility, as defined in section two
of this article, which is being operated without a valid license
from the director. The procedure for obtaining a license shall
be as follows:
(a) The applicant shall submit an application to the
director on a form to be prescribed by the director, containing
such information as may be necessary to show that the applicant
is in compliance with the standards for nursing homes or personal
care homes or residential board and care homes as established by this article and the rules and regulations lawfully promulgated
by the board of health hereunder. The application and any
exhibits thereto shall provide the following information:
(1) The name and address of the applicant;
(2) The name, address and principal occupation: (i) (A) Of
each person who, as a stockholder or otherwise, has a proprietary
interest of ten percent or more in the applicant; (ii) (B) of
each officer and director of a corporate applicant; (iii) (C) of
each trustee and beneficiary of an applicant which is a trust;
and (iv) (D) where a corporation has a proprietary interest of
fifty percent or more in an applicant, the name, address and
principal occupation of each officer and director of such the
corporation;
(3) The name and address of the owner of the premises of the
facility or proposed facility, if he or she is a different person
from the applicant, and in such case, the name and address: (i)
(A) Of each person who, as a stockholder or otherwise, has a
proprietary interest of ten percent or more in such the owner;
(ii) (B) of each officer and director of a corporate applicant;
(iii) (C) of each trustee and beneficiary of such the owner if he
or she is a trust; and (iv) (D) where a corporation has a proprietary interest of fifty percent or more in such the owner,
the name and address of each officer and director of such the
corporation;
(4) Where the applicant is the lessee or the assignee of the
facility or the premises of the proposed facility, a signed copy
of the lease and any assignment thereof;
(5) The name and address of the facility or the premises of
the proposed facility;
(6) The type of institution to be operated;
(7) The proposed bed quota of the facility and the proposed
bed quota of each unit thereof;
(8) (i) (A) An organizational plan for the facility
indicating the number of persons employed or to be employed, the
positions and duties of all employees; (ii) (B) the name and
address of the individual who is to serve as administrator; and
(iii) (C) such evidence of compliance with applicable laws and
regulations governing zoning, buildings, safety, fire prevention
and sanitation as the director may require;
(9) Such additional information as the director may require;
and
(10) Assurances that the nursing home was reviewed and found to be needed under the provisions of article two-d of this
chapter.
(b) Upon receipt and review of an application for license
made pursuant to subdivision (a) of this section, and inspection
of the applicant facility pursuant to section ten of this
article, the director shall issue a license if he or she finds:
(1) That an individual applicant, and every partner,
trustee, officer, director and controlling person of an applicant
which is not an individual, be a person responsible and suitable
to operate or to direct or participate in the operation of a
facility by virtue of financial capacity, appropriate business or
professional experience, a record of compliance with lawful
orders of the department (if any) and lack of revocation of a
license during the previous five years;
(2) That the facility be under the supervision of an
administrator who is qualified by training and experience:
Provided, That every facility classified as a nursing home shall
have an administrator licensed pursuant to the provisions of
article twenty-five, chapter thirty of this code; and
(3) That the facility is in substantial compliance with
standards established pursuant to section five of this article, and such other requirements for a license as the board of health
may establish by regulation rule under this article.
Any license granted by the director shall state the maximum
bed capacity for which it is granted, the date the license was
issued, the expiration date, and the rating assigned to the
facility pursuant to section five of this article. Such The
licenses shall be issued for a period not to exceed fifteen
months for nursing homes and for a period of not to exceed one
year for personal care homes: and residential board and care
homes Provided, That any such license in effect for which timely
application for renewal, together with payment of the proper fee
has been made to the state department of health and human
resources in conformance with the provisions of this article and
the rules and regulations issued thereunder, and prior to the
expiration date of such the license, shall continue in effect
until: (a) (A) One year following the expiration date of such
the license; or (b) (B) the date of the revocation or suspension
of such the license pursuant to the provisions of this article;
or (c) (C) the date of issuance of a new license, whichever date
first occurs. Each license shall be issued only for the premises
and persons named in the application and shall may not be transferable or assignable: Provided, however, That in the case
of the transfer of ownership of a facility with an unexpired
license, the application of the new owner for a license shall
have the effect of a license for a period of three months when
filed with the director. Every license shall be posted in a
conspicuous place in the facility for which it is issued so as to
be accessible to and in plain view of all patients and visitors
of the facility.
(c) An original license shall be renewable, conditioned upon
the licensee filing timely application for the extension of the
term of the license accompanied by the fee, and contingent upon
evidence of compliance with the provisions of this article and
regulations rules promulgated by the board of health hereunder:
Provided, That notwithstanding the requirements of other sections
of this article, the director may deem as evidence of compliance
with such provisions and regulations rules the certification of
nursing home beds under the medicare or medicaid requirements of
titles eighteen or nineteen of the Social Security Act, Title 42,
United States Code, sections 1395 and 1396, et seq. Any such
application for renewal of a license shall include a report by
the licensee in such form and containing such information as shall be prescribed by the director, including the following:
(1) A balance sheet of the facility as of the end of its
fiscal year, setting forth assets and liabilities at such that
date, including all capital, surplus, reserve, depreciation and
similar accounts;
(2) A statement of operations of the facility as of the end
of its fiscal year, setting forth all revenues, expenses, taxes,
extraordinary items and other credits or charges; and
(3) A statement of any changes in the name, address,
management or ownership information on file with the director.
All holders of facility licenses as of the effective date of this
article shall include, in the first application for renewal filed
thereafter, such information as is required for initial
applicants under the provisions of subsection (a) of this
section.
(d) In the case of an application for a renewal license, if
all requirements of section five of this article are not met, the
director may in his or her discretion issue a provisional
license, provided that care given in the facility is adequate for
patient needs and the facility has demonstrated improvement and
evidences potential for substantial compliance within the term of said the license: Provided, That a provisional renewal may not
be issued for a period greater than one year, shall may not be
renewed, and that no such license shall may be issued to any
facility with uncorrected violations of any Class I standard, as
defined in subsection (c), section five of this article.
(e) A nonrefundable application fee in the amount of one
hundred dollars for an original nursing home license or fifty
dollars for an original personal care facility or residential
board and care home license shall be paid at the time application
is made for such the license. Direct costs of initial licensure
inspections or inspections for changes in licensed bed capacity
shall be borne by the applicant and shall be received by the
director prior to the issuance of an initial or amended license.
The license fee for renewal of a license shall be at the rate of
eight dollars per bed per year for nursing homes, and four
dollars per bed per year for personal care homes, and two dollars
per bed per year for residential board and care homes except the
annual rate per bed may be assessed for licenses issued for less
than one year. The director may annually adjust the licensure
fees for inflation based upon the consumer price index. The bed
capacity for the holder of each license shall be determined by the director. All such license fees shall be due and payable to
the director, annually, and in such manner set forth in the rules
and regulations promulgated by the board of health. Such The fee
and application shall be submitted to the director who shall
retain both the application and fee pending final action on the
application. All fees received by the director under the
provisions of this article shall be deposited in accordance with
section thirteen, article one of this chapter.
§16-5C-9. Inspections.
The director and any duly designated employee or agent
thereof shall have the right to enter upon and into the premises
of any facility for which a license has been issued, for which
an application for license has been filed with the director, or
which the director has reason to believe is being operated or
maintained as a nursing home or personal care home or residential
board and care home without a license. If such entry is refused
by the owner or person in charge of any such facility, the
director shall apply to the circuit court of the county in which
the facility is located or the circuit court of Kanawha County
for a warrant authorizing inspection, and such the court shall
issue an appropriate warrant if it finds good cause for inspection.
The director, by the director's authorized employees or
agents, shall conduct at least one inspection prior to issuance
of a license pursuant to section six of this article, and shall
conduct periodic unannounced inspections thereafter, to determine
compliance by the facility with applicable statutes and
regulations rules promulgated thereunder. All facilities shall
comply with regulations of the state fire commission. The state
fire marshal, by his or her employees or authorized agents, shall
make all fire, safety and like inspections. The director may
provide for such other inspections as the director may deem he or
she deems necessary to carry out the intent and purpose of this
article. If after investigating a complaint, the director
determines that the complaint is substantiated and that an
immediate and serious threat to a consumer's health or safety
exists, the director may invoke any remedies available pursuant
to section eleven of this article. Any facility aggrieved by a
determination or assessment made pursuant to this section shall
have the right to an administrative appeal as set forth in
section twelve of this article.
ARTICLE 5E. REGISTRATION OF SERVICE PROVIDERS.
§16-5E-2. Definitions.
As used in this article, unless a different meaning appears
from the context:
(a) The term "consumer" means an individual who is provided
services, whether or not for a fee, by a service provider, but
consumer does not include a person receiving services provided by
another who is related to him or her or the spouse thereof by
blood or marriage, within the degree of consanguinity of second
cousin. Limited and intermittent nursing care may only be
provided when the need for such care: (1) Arises from the
consumer's desire to remain in the facility; (2) the consumer is
advised of the availability of other specialized health care
facilities to treat his or her condition; and (3) the need for
such care is the result of a medical pathology or a result of the
normal aging process. Limited and intermittent nursing care
shall may only be provided by or under the direct supervision of
a registered professional nurse and in accordance with rules
promulgated by the secretary of the department of health and
human resources. If limited and intermittent nursing care is
provided in an unlicensed health care facility, the facility
shall: (1) Provide consumers, at the time of admission, with the name, address and telephone number of the offices of health
facility licensure and certification, the state long-term care
ombudsman, and adult protective services, all within the
department of health and human resources; and (2) advise
consumers both orally and in writing of their right to file a
complaint with the aforementioned entities;
(b) The term "director" means the secretary of the
department of health and human resources or his or her designee;
(c) The term "nursing care" means those procedures commonly
employed in providing for the physical, emotional and
rehabilitational needs of the ill or otherwise incapacitated
which require technical skills and knowledge beyond that which
the untrained person possesses, including, but not limited to,
such procedures as: Irrigations; catheterization; special
procedures contributing to rehabilitation; and administration of
medication by any method prescribed by a physician which involves
a level of complexity and skill in administration not possessed
by the untrained person;
(d) The term "personal assistance" means personal services,
including, but not limited to, the following: Help in walking,
bathing, dressing, feeding or getting in or out of bed, or supervision required because of the age or physical or mental
impairment of the resident;
(e) The term "service provider" means the individual
administratively responsible for providing to consumers for a
period of more than twenty-four hours, whether for compensation
or not, services of personal assistance for one to three eleven
consumers and who may require limited and intermittent nursing
care, including those individuals who qualify for and are
receiving services coordinated by a licensed hospice: Provided,
That services utilizing equipment which requires auxiliary
electrical power in the event of a power failure shall may not be
used unless the health care facility has a backup power
generator. Any health care facility in which a service provider
cares for consumers who are not capable of self-preservation, as
determined by a licensed physician, shall have an operational 13-
D sprinkler system.
ARTICLE 5L. LONG-TERM CARE OMBUDSMAN PROGRAM.
L§16-5L-3. Definitions.
As used in this article, unless a different meaning appears
from the context:
(a) "Government agency" means any department, division,
office, bureau, board, commission, council, authority, or any
other agency or instrumentality created by the state or political
subdivision thereof or to which the state is a party or by any
county or municipality which is responsible for the regulation,
visitation, inspection, or supervision of long-term care
facilities or which provides services to residents or long-term
care facilities;
(b) "Long-term care facility" means any nursing home or
personal care home or residential board and care home as defined
in section two, article five-c of this chapter; nursing homes
operated by the federal government or the state government;
extended care facilities operated in connection with hospitals;
and any similar institution, residence or place, or any part or
unit thereof, however named, in this state which is advertised,
offered, maintained or operated by the ownership or management
for consideration, for the express and implied purpose of
providing accommodations and care or personal assistance to one
or more persons who are ill or otherwise incapacitated or are
dependent upon the services of others by reasons of physical or
mental impairment and who are not related within the degree of consanguinity of second cousin to the owner or manager of the
institution, residence or place;
(c) "Long-term care ombudsman volunteer" or "ombudsman
volunteer" means any uncompensated individual who performs the
duties enumerated under section eight of this article: Provided,
That the individual has received appropriate certification as set
forth in section nine of this article;
(d) "Personal assistance" means personal services,
including, but not limited to, the following: Help in walking,
bathing, dressing, feeding or getting in or out of bed, or
supervision required because of the age or mental impairment of
the resident;
(e) "Regional long-term care ombudsman" means any paid staff
of a designated regional long-term care ombudsman program who has
obtained appropriate certification from the state commission on
aging and meets the qualifications set forth in section seven of
this article;
(f) "Resident" means an individual living in a nursing home,
personal care home, a residential board and care home, or any
long-term care facility as defined in subsection (b) of this
section, or who has lived in such a setting, or who has made application to live in such a setting: Provided, That nothing in
this article shall may be construed to give a long-term care
ombudsman the right to obtain the waiting list of a long-term
care facility;
(g) "State long-term care ombudsman" means an individual who
meets the qualifications of section five of this article and who
is employed by the state commission on aging to implement the
state long-term care ombudsman program as set forth in this
article; and
(h) "Guardian" means a person lawfully invested with the
power and charged with the duty of taking care of another person
and managing the property and rights of another person who for
some peculiarity of status or defect of age, understanding or
self control is considered incapable of administering his or her
own affairs, to include committees or other references under the
code.
CHAPTER 30. PROFESSIONS AND OCCUPATIONS.
ARTICLE 5. PHARMACISTS, ASSISTANT PHARMACISTS.
§30-5-16c. Partial filling of prescriptions for long-term care
facility or terminally ill patients; requirements;
records; violations.
(a) As used in this section, "long-term care facility" or "LTCF" means any nursing home or personal care home or
residential board and care home as defined in section two,
article five-c, chapter sixteen of this code which provides
extended health care to resident patients: Provided, That the
care or treatment in a household, whether for compensation or
not, of any person related by blood or marriage, within the
degree of consanguinity of second cousin to the head of the
household, or his or her spouse, may not be deemed to constitute
a nursing home or personal care home or residential board and
care home within the meaning of this article. This section shall
does not apply to:
(1) Hospitals, as defined under section one, article five-b,
chapter sixteen of this article or to extended care facilities
operated in conjunction with a hospital;
(2) State institutions as defined in section six, article
one, chapter twenty-seven or in section three, article one,
chapter twenty-five, all of this code;
(3) Nursing homes operated by the federal government;
(4) Facilities owned or operated by the state government;
(5) Institutions operated for the treatment and care of
alcoholic patients;
(6) Offices of physicians; or
(7) Hotels, boarding homes or other similar places that
furnish to their guests only a room and board.
(b) As used in this section, "terminally ill" means that an
individual has a medical prognosis that his or her life
expectancy is six months or less.
(c) Schedule II prescriptions for patients in a LTCF and for
terminally ill patients shall be valid for a period of sixty days
from the date of issue unless terminated within a shorter period
by the discontinuance of the medication.
(d) A prescription for a Schedule II controlled substance
written for a patient in a LTCF or for a terminally ill patient
may be filled in partial quantities, including, but not limited
to, individual dosage units. The total quantity of Schedule II
controlled substances dispensed in all partial filling shall may
not exceed the total quantity prescribed.
(1) If there is any question whether a patient may be
classified as having a terminal illness, the pharmacist shall
contact the prescribing practitioner prior to partially filling
the prescription.
(2) Both the pharmacist and the prescribing practitioner have a corresponding responsibility to assure that the controlled
substance is for a terminally ill patient.
(e) The pharmacist shall record on the prescription that the
patient is "terminally ill" or a "LTCF patient". A prescription
that is partially filled and does not contain the notation
"terminally ill" or "LTCF patient" shall be deemed to have been
filled in violation of section three hundred eight, article
three, chapter sixty-a of this code.
(f) For each partial filling, the dispensing pharmacist
shall record on the back of the prescription, or on another
appropriate record which is readily retrievable, the following
information:
(1) The date of the partial filling;
(2) The quantity dispensed;
(3) The remaining quantity authorized to be dispensed; and
(4) The identification of the dispensing pharmacist.
(g) Information pertaining to current Schedule II
prescriptions for terminally ill and LTCF patients may be
maintained in a computerized system if such a system has the
capability to permit either by display or printout, for each
patient and each medication, all of the information required by this section as well as the patient's name and address, the name
of each medication, original prescription number, date of issue,
and prescribing practitioner information. The system shall also
allow immediate updating of the prescription record each time a
partial filling of the prescription is performed and immediate
retrieval of all information required under this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to repeal article five-h,
chapter sixteen of the code, and to further eliminate all
references to residential board and care homes.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.