Bill Text: GA SB485 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Patient Right to Know; administrative remedies; prior to inmate filing a complaint; Georgia Composite Medical Board
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-02-29 - Senate Read Second Time [SB485 Detail]
Download: Georgia-2011-SB485-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Patient Right to Know; administrative remedies; prior to inmate filing a complaint; Georgia Composite Medical Board
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-02-29 - Senate Read Second Time [SB485 Detail]
Download: Georgia-2011-SB485-Introduced.html
12 LC
35 2617
Senate
Bill 485
By:
Senator Grant of the 25th
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Chapter 34A of Title 43 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
relating to patient right to know, so as to provide for exhaustion of
administrative remedies prior to an inmate filing a complaint against a
physician or other medical personnel with the Georgia Composite Medical Board;
to provide for related matters; to provide an effective date; to repeal
conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Chapter
34A of Title 43 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to patient
right to know, is amended by revising Code Section 43-34A-6, relating to a
patient's right to file a grievance with the Georgia Composite Medical Board, as
follows:
"43-34A-6.
(a)
The patient or any person that the board deems to have a legitimate interest has
the right to file a grievance with the board concerning a physician, staff,
office, or treatment received.
(b)
A declaration of the patient's rights shall be prominently displayed in
conspicuous language in the physician's waiting room. This declaration may be
contained in the same notice as the right to obtain physician profiles. The
declaration of rights shall contain the following statement:
'The
patient has the right to file a grievance with the Georgia Composite Medical
Board concerning the physician, staff, office, and treatment received. The
patient should either call the board with such a complaint or send a written
complaint to the board. The patient should be able to provide the physician or
practice name, the address, and the specific nature of the complaint.
A person in
the custody of the Department of Corrections or a county detention facility may
not file a grievance with the board until he or she has exhausted the grievance
procedure made available by his or her
custodian.'
Such
notice shall include the current phone number and address of the
board.
(c)
The board must review every complaint received to determine if there is
sufficient evidence to warrant an investigation according to a procedure
established by board regulation. Only investigated complaints upon which the
board has taken disciplinary action shall be included in a physician's profile.
The board must take the appropriate action as set forth in the regulations
promulgated by the board. The board must respond in writing to the complaint
within 60 days. In the response, the board shall inform the person whether the
complaint is being referred for investigation, and if the complaint has been
investigated, the results of the investigation or whether further investigation
is required, and any board action taken.
(d)
Any other provision of law notwithstanding, the board shall not be required to
review the complaint of a person incarcerated in the custody of the Georgia
Department of Corrections or a county detention facility unless such person has
demonstrated that he or she has exhausted the internal grievance procedure made
available to him or her by his or her custodian or otherwise establishes that no
procedure for filing grievances against physicians or applicable medical staff
is made available by his or her
custodian."
SECTION
2.
This
Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its
becoming law without such approval.
SECTION
3.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.