ENROLLED
H. B. 2722
(By Delegate Gallagher)
[Passed March 11, 1995; in effect ninety days from passage.]
AN ACT 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 that
requirement:
Provided, That no exemption granted diminishes the
right of the state department of health and human resources to
conduct complaint inspections:
Provided, however, That no
exemption granted 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 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
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.