Bill Text: TX HB1221 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to communicable disease and infection prevention and control measures for certain long-term care facilities; authorizing an administrative penalty.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-03-04 - Referred to Human Services [HB1221 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-HB1221-Introduced.html
87R5392 EAS-D | ||
By: Campos | H.B. No. 1221 |
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relating to communicable disease and infection prevention and | ||
control measures for certain long-term care facilities; | ||
authorizing an administrative penalty. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 81.014, Health and Safety Code, is | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 81.014. LONG-TERM CARE FACILITY INFECTION PREVENTION | ||
AND CONTROL PROGRAMS [ |
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shall, with advice from and subject to the approval of a quality | ||
assessment and assurance committee designated under Subsection | ||
(c), establish and maintain an [ |
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and control program designed to: | ||
(1) provide to facility residents and staff a safe, | ||
sanitary, and comfortable environment; and | ||
(2) help prevent the development and transmission of | ||
communicable diseases and infections among facility residents and | ||
staff. | ||
(b) A long-term care facility's infection prevention and | ||
control program must include: | ||
(1) monitoring of key infectious agents, including | ||
multidrug-resistant organisms; [ |
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(2) procedures for making rapid influenza diagnostic | ||
tests available to facility residents and staff; and | ||
(3) procedures for ensuring that rapid antigen | ||
COVID-19 viral tests are available to facility residents and staff | ||
as needed. | ||
(c) Each long-term care facility shall designate a quality | ||
assessment and assurance committee to approve and monitor the | ||
facility's infection prevention and control program. The facility's | ||
committee must include: | ||
(1) the facility's director of nursing or an | ||
equivalent consultant with the facility; | ||
(2) the facility's medical director or the director's | ||
designee; | ||
(3) not less than three members of the facility's | ||
staff, at least one of whom must be a facility administrator, a | ||
facility board member, or another individual in a leadership | ||
position with the facility; and | ||
(4) the facility's primary infection preventionist | ||
designated under Section 81.0145. | ||
(d) A long-term care facility's quality assessment and | ||
assurance committee shall: | ||
(1) conduct an annual review of the facility's | ||
infection prevention and control program and modify the program as | ||
necessary; and | ||
(2) present the findings of each review conducted | ||
under Subdivision (1) to facility staff and residents at annual | ||
meetings that are open to the public. | ||
(e) A long-term care facility's primary infection | ||
preventionist designated under Section 81.0145 shall: | ||
(1) with the assistance of the facility's secondary | ||
infection preventionist designated under that section, implement | ||
the facility's infection prevention and control program; and | ||
(2) submit regular reports to the facility's quality | ||
assessment and assurance committee on the implementation of the | ||
program. | ||
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 81, Health and Safety | ||
Code, is amended by adding Sections 81.0145 and 81.0146 to read as | ||
follows: | ||
Sec. 81.0145. LONG-TERM CARE FACILITY INFECTION | ||
PREVENTIONISTS. (a) Each long-term care facility shall designate | ||
a primary and a secondary infection preventionist. The primary and | ||
secondary infection preventionists must: | ||
(1) have professional training or other specialized | ||
training in nursing, medical technology, microbiology, or another | ||
related field; | ||
(2) have completed specialized training in infection | ||
prevention and control; | ||
(3) work at least part-time at the facility; and | ||
(4) annually complete at least eight hours of training | ||
approved by the commission related to infectious diseases and | ||
vaccinations. | ||
(b) A long-term care facility's primary infection | ||
preventionist and, under the direction of the primary infection | ||
preventionist, secondary infection preventionist shall: | ||
(1) implement the facility's infection prevention and | ||
control program in the manner described by Section 81.014; | ||
(2) serve as the facility's contact for the local | ||
health department or health authority to notify the facility of a | ||
potential exposure to a reportable disease at the facility; | ||
(3) notify the local health department or health | ||
authority of a potential exposure to a reportable disease at the | ||
facility not later than eight hours from the time of exposure; | ||
(4) notify staff, residents, and resident | ||
representatives not later than 12 hours from the time a reportable | ||
disease at the facility is verified; | ||
(5) investigate and evaluate incidents during which | ||
facility residents or staff were or may have been exposed to a | ||
communicable disease, using current evidence-based information on | ||
the possible risks associated with exposure to the communicable | ||
disease; | ||
(6) implement control measures to prevent the spread | ||
of infection of a communicable disease among facility residents and | ||
staff, including: | ||
(A) immunization; | ||
(B) detention; | ||
(C) restrictions; | ||
(D) disinfection; | ||
(E) decontamination; | ||
(F) isolation; | ||
(G) quarantine; | ||
(H) disinfestation; | ||
(I) chemoprophylaxis; | ||
(J) preventive therapy; | ||
(K) prevention methods; and | ||
(L) education; | ||
(7) in accordance with applicable law, monitor all | ||
treatment provided to a facility resident or staff member who is | ||
exposed to and as a result of that exposure infected with a | ||
communicable disease at the facility; | ||
(8) maintain records of and respond in a timely | ||
manner, as determined by the facility, to each communicable disease | ||
complaint made by facility staff, residents, or resident | ||
representatives; | ||
(9) as required by the executive commissioner, submit | ||
to the department or the local health department or health | ||
authority accurate information on the total number of cases of a | ||
reportable disease among facility residents or staff; and | ||
(10) perform other duties for the facility as assigned | ||
by the executive commissioner. | ||
(c) A primary or secondary infection preventionist may not | ||
serve concurrently as an infection preventionist for more than | ||
three long-term care facilities. | ||
(d) Each long-term care facility shall provide to the local | ||
health department or health authority the names and qualifications | ||
of the facility's primary and secondary infection preventionists. | ||
Sec. 81.0146. ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTY RELATED TO LONG-TERM | ||
CARE FACILITY COMMUNICABLE DISEASE AND PREVENTION CONTROL | ||
MEASURES. (a) The commission may impose an administrative penalty | ||
against a long-term care facility that violates Section 81.014 or | ||
81.0145 in an amount determined by the executive commissioner in | ||
accordance with commission rules. | ||
(b) The amount of an administrative penalty imposed under | ||
this section shall be based on: | ||
(1) the seriousness of the violation, including the | ||
nature, circumstances, extent, and gravity of any prohibited acts, | ||
and the hazard or potential hazard created to the health and safety | ||
of facility residents and staff; | ||
(2) enforcement costs relating to the violation; | ||
(3) the history of previous violations; | ||
(4) the amount necessary to deter future violations; | ||
(5) efforts to correct the violation; and | ||
(6) any other matter that justice may require. | ||
SECTION 3. (a) As soon as practicable after the effective | ||
date of this Act, each long-term care facility licensed under | ||
Chapter 242, 247, or 252, Health and Safety Code, shall: | ||
(1) establish an infection prevention and control | ||
program and designate a quality assessment and assurance committee | ||
to approve the program as required by Section 81.014, Health and | ||
Safety Code, as amended by this Act; and | ||
(2) designate a primary and a secondary infection | ||
preventionist as required by Section 81.0145, Health and Safety | ||
Code, as added by this Act. | ||
(b) As soon as practicable after the effective date of this | ||
Act, the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services | ||
Commission shall adopt the rules necessary to implement the changes | ||
in law made by this Act. | ||
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021. |