Bill Text: NJ A2103 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires health care facilities to report certain information about their health care staff to their respective professional boards or DHSS.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-09 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Regulated Professions Committee [A2103 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-A2103-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
218th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2018 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman JERRY GREEN
District 22 (Middlesex, Somerset and Union)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblymen Bramnick, Wolfe, Conaway and Assemblywoman N.Munoz
SYNOPSIS
Requires health care facilities to report certain information about their health care staff to their respective professional boards or DHSS.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning certain health care facility employees and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. As used in this act:
"Applicable board" means the New Jersey Board of Nursing or the Board of Pharmacy of the State of New Jersey.
"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Health and Senior Services.
"Department" means the Department of Health and Senior Services.
"Health care facility" means: a health care facility licensed pursuant to P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et seq.); a health care service firm regulated by the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety; or a nurses' registry operated by an association of registered nurses under the supervision of a registered nurse authorized to practice in this State and duly incorporated as a nonprofit organization pursuant to State law.
"Health care professional" means: a person who is authorized to practice as a registered professional nurse, licensed practical nurse or certified homemaker-home health aide by the New Jersey Board of Nursing pursuant to P.L.1947, c.262 (C.45:11-23 et seq.); a pharmacist who is registered with the Board of Pharmacy of the State of New Jersey pursuant to R.S.45:14-1 et seq.; or a nurse aide or personal care assistant who is certified by the Department of Health and Senior Services.
2. a. A health care facility shall notify the applicable board or the department, as appropriate, in writing if a health care professional who is employed by, or under contract to render professional services to, that health care facility:
(1) voluntarily resigns from the staff of the facility if the facility is reviewing the health care professional's conduct or patient care at the facility, or has expressed an intention to resign to any member of the health care professional or administrative staff at the facility;
(2) has been discharged from the staff of the facility or has had a contract to render professional services terminated or rescinded for reasons relating to the health care professional's incompetence, misconduct or impairment;
(3) agrees to the placement of conditions or limitations on the health care professional's practice within the facility, including, but not limited to, nonroutine concurrent or retrospective review of care, nonroutine supervision by one or more members of the staff, or the completion of remedial education or training;
(4) is granted a leave of absence pursuant to which the health care professional may not practice within the facility, if the reasons provided in support of the leave relate to any physical, mental or emotional condition or drug or alcohol use that might impair the health care professional's ability to practice with reasonable skill and safety; or
(5) is a party to a medical malpractice liability suit, to which the facility is also a party, and there is a settlement, judgment or arbitration award, in which case notification shall be made within seven days of the date of the settlement, judgment or award.
b. The commissioner, in consultation with the Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety, shall prescribe the form of notification, which shall contain such information as may be required by the applicable board or the department and be consistent with any applicable requirements of federal law or regulations.
c. A health care facility that fails to provide notification to, or cooperate with a request for information by, the applicable board or the department shall be subject to such penalties as the department may determine pursuant to sections 13 and 14 of P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-13 and 26:2H-14).
d. A health care facility, or any employee thereof, providing information to the applicable board or the department regarding a health care professional pursuant to the provisions of this section or section 3 of this act, is not liable for damages for providing the information unless the health care facility or employee knowingly provided false information.
3. a. A health care facility shall maintain a record of all complaints about, and disciplinary proceedings or actions against, a health care professional who is employed by or otherwise has an affiliation with the facility. The facility shall retain the information for a period of seven years and make the record, including any information that the facility has pertaining to a record maintained on the health care professional prior to the effective date of this act, available to the applicable board and the department, upon request.
b. A health care facility shall make the records relating to its mortality, morbidity, complication, infection and readmission experience, which it is required to make available to the department pursuant to subsection b. of section 3 of P.L.1989, c.300 (C.26:2H-12.2a), available to the applicable board, upon request.
c. The provisions of subsections a. and b. of this section shall not be construed to affect the provisions of P.L.2004, c.9 (C.26:2H-12.23 et seq.).
4. a. If a health care professional employed by, or under contract to render professional services to, a health care facility has taken or is the subject of an action, or meets a condition, as described in subsection a. of section 2 of this act, the facility and any employee thereof, and any individual who otherwise has an affiliation with the facility, shall be immune from civil liability for disclosing the action or condition in good faith to another health care facility or other entity that seeks to employ the person as a health care professional.
b. A health care facility and any employee thereof, and any individual who otherwise has an affiliation with the facility, that discloses information to another health care facility or other entity pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall be presumed to be acting in good faith unless it is shown by clear and convincing evidence that:
(1) the facility, employee or other individual disclosing the information acted with actual malice toward the person who is the subject of the information; or
(2) the information disclosed by the facility, employee or other individual was false, and the facility, employee or other individual knew or reasonably should have known that the information was false.
c. The provisions of subsections a. and b. of this section shall not be construed to affect any privilege or immunity from civil liability that is otherwise established by statute or available at common law.
5. a. The commissioner shall establish a task force to:
(1) review policies and procedures governing the reporting of information by health care facilities to the applicable boards pursuant to this act;
(2) evaluate the effectiveness of this act in meeting its objectives; and
(3) consider related aspects thereof, including, but not limited to: the extent to which the implementation of its provisions impacts, or is perceived to impact, upon the employment and morale of health care professionals who are employed by, or under contract to render professional services to, health care facilities; and whether to expand the provisions of this act to apply to other persons working in health care facilities and to include reporting by managed care plans on their participating providers to effectuate the purposes of this act.
b. The task force shall include the commissioner and the Executive Directors of the New Jersey Board of Nursing and the Board of Pharmacy of the State of New Jersey, or their designees, as ex officio members; and a representative from each of the following: the New Jersey State Nurses Association, the New Jersey Pharmacists Association, the New Jersey Hospital Association, the Hospital Alliance of New Jersey, the New Jersey Council of Teaching Hospitals, the Health Care Association of New Jersey, and the Home Care Association of New Jersey.
c. The task force shall be chaired by the commissioner, and the department shall provide such staff support and resources as the task force requires to meet its responsibilities pursuant to this section.
d. The task force shall report its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature no later than two years after the effective date of this act.
6. The Commissioner of Health and Senior Services, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.) and in consultation with the Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety, shall adopt rules and regulations necessary to effectuate the purposes of this act.
7. This act shall take effect on the 180th day after enactment, but the Commissioner of Health and Senior Services may take such anticipatory administrative action in advance as shall be necessary for the implementation of the act.
STATEMENT
This bill requires health care facilities to report to the appropriate State professional licensing board or the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS), as applicable, concerning certain health care professionals whose conduct or care has been called into question by the facility.
The bill defines "health care facility" to mean: a health care facility licensed pursuant to N.J.S.A.26:2H-1 et seq.; a health care service firm regulated by the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety; or a nurses' registry operated by an association of registered nurses under the supervision of a registered nurse authorized to practice in this State and duly incorporated as a nonprofit organization pursuant to State law.
The health care professionals covered by this bill would include nurses, homemaker-home health aides, pharmacists, nurse aides and personal care assistants. The bill parallels a similar requirement in State law for health care facilities to report to the Medical Practitioner Review Panel established by the State Board of Medical Examiners about physicians whose performance is under question, as provided in N.J.S.A.26:2H-12.2.
The provisions of this bill would facilitate the efforts of the applicable professional licensing boards to exercise the authority granted to them under N.J.S.A.45:1-21 and 45:1-25 to impose disciplinary measures against individuals who engage in professional or occupational misconduct or otherwise violate any statute or board regulation.
Specifically, the bill directs a hospital or other health care facility to provide written notification to the applicable board if a nurse, homemaker-home health aide or pharmacist, or to DHSS if a nurse aide or personal care assistant, who is employed by, or under contract to render professional services to, that facility:
--voluntarily resigns from the staff of the facility if the facility is reviewing the health care professional's conduct or patient care or has expressed an intention to resign to any member of the health care professional or administrative staff at the facility;
--has been discharged from the staff of the facility or has had a contract to render professional services terminated or rescinded for reasons relating to the health care professional's incompetence, misconduct or impairment;
--agrees to the placement of conditions or limitations on the health care professional's practice within the facility, including, but not limited to, nonroutine concurrent or retrospective review of care, nonroutine supervision by one or more members of the staff, or the completion of remedial education or training;
--is granted a leave of absence pursuant to which the health care professional may not practice within the facility, if the reasons provided in support of the leave relate to any physical, mental or emotional condition or drug or alcohol use that might impair the health care professional's ability to practice with reasonable skill and safety; or
--is a party to a medical malpractice liability suit, to which the facility is also a party, and there is a settlement, judgment or arbitration award, in which case notification must be made within seven days of the date of the settlement, judgment or award.
The bill provides that the form of notification is to be prescribed by the Commissioner of Health and Senior Services, in consultation with the Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety, and contain such information as may be required by the applicable board or DHSS and be consistent with any applicable requirements of federal law or regulations.
The bill also stipulates that a health care facility that fails to provide this notification or to cooperate with a request for information by the applicable board or DHSS is subject to penalties pursuant to N.J.S.A.26:2H-13 and 26:2H-14.
The bill further provides that:
* a health care facility, or any employee of the facility, providing information to the applicable board or DHSS regarding a health care professional pursuant to the bill, is not liable for damages for providing the information unless the health care facility or employee knowingly provided false information;
* a health care facility must maintain a record of all complaints about, and disciplinary proceedings or actions against, a health care professional who is employed by or otherwise has an affiliation with the facility;
* the facility is to retain the information for a period of seven years and make the record, including any information that the facility has pertaining to a record maintained on the health care professional prior to the effective date of the bill, available to the applicable board and DHSS, upon request; and
* a health care facility must make the records relating to its mortality, morbidity, complication, infection and readmission experience, which it is required to make available to DHSS pursuant to N.J.S.A.26:2H-12.2a, available to the applicable board, upon request.
In addition, the bill provides that:
--if a health care professional who is employed by, or under contract to render professional services to, a health care facility has taken or is the subject of an action, or meets a condition, as described in the bill, and the facility is required to report to the appropriate State professional licensing board or DHSS, the facility and any employee thereof, and any individual who otherwise has an affiliation with the facility, is immune from civil liability for disclosing the action or condition in good faith to another health care facility or other entity that seeks to employ that person as a health care professional; and
--a health care facility and any employee thereof, and any individual who otherwise has an affiliation with the facility, that discloses this information to another health care facility or other entity is presumed to be acting in good faith unless it is shown by clear and convincing evidence that:
(1) the facility, employee or other individual disclosing the information acted with actual malice toward the person who is the subject of the information; or
(2) the information disclosed by the facility, employee or other individual was false, and the facility, employee or other individual knew or reasonably should have known that the information was false.
The bill stipulates that these provisions are not to be construed to affect any privilege or immunity from civil liability that is otherwise established by statute or available at common law.
The bill directs the Commissioner of Health and Senior Services to establish a task force to:
(1) review policies and procedures governing the reporting of information by health care facilities to the applicable boards pursuant to the bill;
(2) evaluate the effectiveness of the bill in meeting its objectives; and
(3) consider related aspects thereof, including, but not limited to: the extent to which the implementation of its provisions impacts, or is perceived to impact, upon the employment and morale of health care professionals who are employed by, or under contract to render professional services to, health care facilities; and whether to expand the provisions of the bill to apply to other persons working in health care facilities and to include reporting by managed care plans on their participating providers to effectuate the purposes of the bill.
The task force is to include the commissioner and the Executive Directors of the New Jersey Board of Nursing and the Board of Pharmacy of the State of New Jersey, or their designees, as ex officio members; and a representative from each of the following: the New Jersey State Nurses Association, the New Jersey Pharmacists Association, the New Jersey Hospital Association, the Hospital Alliance of New Jersey, the New Jersey Council of Teaching Hospitals, the Health Care Association of New Jersey, and the Home Care Association of New Jersey.
The task force is to be chaired by the commissioner, and DHSS is to provide such staff support and resources as the task force requires to meet its responsibilities.
The task force is to report its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature no later than two years after the effective date of the bill.
The bill takes effect on the 180th day after enactment, but authorizes the Commissioner of Health and Senior Services to take anticipatory administrative action in advance as necessary for its implementation.
