Bill Text: TX HB2673 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Enrolled

---

Bill Title: Relating to the protection and care of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Sponsorship: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 2-1)

Status: (Passed) 2013-06-14 - Effective immediately [HB2673 Detail]

Download: Texas-2013-HB2673-Enrolled.html

---

H.B. No. 2673

AN ACT
relating to the protection and care of individuals with
intellectual and developmental disabilities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Section 411.1144, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 411.1144. ACCESS TO CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD
INFORMATION: AGENCIES WITH EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS, OR VOLUNTEERS
AT STATE SUPPORTED LIVING CENTERS.
SECTION 2. Sections 411.1144(a) and (d), Government Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(a) The Department of State Health Services, [and] the
Department of Aging and Disability Services, and the Health and
Human Services Commission are entitled to obtain from the
department criminal history record information maintained by the
department that relates to a person:
(1) who is:
(A) an applicant for employment with the agency;
(B) an employee of the agency;
(C) a volunteer with the agency; [or]
(D) an applicant for a volunteer position with
the agency;
(E) an applicant for a contract with the agency;
or
(F) a contractor of the agency; and
(2) who would be placed in direct contact with a
resident or client, as defined by Section 555.001, Health and
Safety Code [of a state supported living center or the ICF-MR
component of the Rio Grande State Center].
(d) Subject to Section 411.087, the Department of State
Health Services, [and] the Department of Aging and Disability
Services, and the Health and Human Services Commission are entitled
to:
(1) obtain through the Federal Bureau of Investigation
criminal history record information maintained or indexed by that
bureau that pertains to a person described by Subsection (a); and
(2) obtain from any other criminal justice agency in
this state criminal history record information maintained by that
criminal justice agency that relates to a person described by
Subsection (a).
SECTION 3. The heading to Subchapter U, Chapter 531,
Government Code, is amended to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER U. MORTALITY REVIEW FOR CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS WITH
INTELLECTUAL OR DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES
SECTION 4. Subchapter U, Chapter 531, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 531.8501 to read as follows:
Sec. 531.8501. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "contracted
organization" means an entity that contracts with the Health and
Human Services Commission for the provision of services as
described by Section 531.851(c).
SECTION 5. Sections 531.851(a), (c), (d), and (e),
Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The executive commissioner shall establish an
independent mortality review system to review the death of a person
with an intellectual or [a] developmental disability who, at the
time of the person's death or at any time during the 24-hour period
before the person's death:
(1) resided in or received services from:
(A) an intermediate care facility for persons
with an intellectual or developmental disability (ICF/IID) [mental
retardation (ICF-MR)] operated or licensed by the Department of
Aging and Disability Services or a community center; or
(B) the ICF/IID [ICF-MR] component of the Rio
Grande State Center; or
(2) received services [residential assistance]
through a Section 1915(c) waiver program for [serving] individuals
who are eligible for ICF/IID [ICF-MR] services [in a residence in
which residential assistance is provided to three or more persons
and in which the waiver program provider has a property interest].
(c) The executive commissioner shall contract with an
institution of higher education or a health care organization or
association with experience in conducting research-based mortality
studies [a patient safety organization certified in accordance with
42 C.F.R. Part 3, as effective on January 19, 2009,] to conduct
independent mortality reviews of persons with an intellectual or
developmental disability [required by this subchapter]. The
contract must require the contracted [patient safety] organization
to form a [conduct an independent mortality] review [using a] team
consisting of:
(1) a physician with expertise regarding the medical
treatment of individuals with intellectual or developmental
disabilities [mental retardation];
(2) a registered nurse with expertise regarding the
medical treatment of individuals with intellectual or
developmental disabilities [mental retardation];
(3) a clinician or other professional with expertise
in the delivery of services and supports for individuals with
intellectual or developmental disabilities [mental retardation];
and
(4) any other appropriate person as provided by the
executive commissioner.
(d) The executive commissioner shall adopt rules regarding
the manner in which the death of a person described by Subsection
(a) must be reported to the contracted [patient safety]
organization by a facility or waiver program provider described by
that subsection.
(e) To ensure consistency across mortality review systems,
a review under this section must collect information consistent
with the information required to be collected by any other
independent mortality review process established specifically for
persons with intellectual or developmental disabilities [mental
retardation].
SECTION 6. Section 531.852, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 531.852. ACCESS TO INFORMATION. (a) A contracted
[patient safety] organization may request information and records
regarding a deceased person as necessary to carry out the
contracted [patient safety] organization's duties. Records and
information that may be requested under this section include:
(1) medical, dental, and mental health care
information; and
(2) information and records maintained by any state or
local government agency, including:
(A) a birth certificate;
(B) law enforcement investigative data;
(C) medical examiner investigative data;
(D) juvenile court records;
(E) parole and probation information and
records; and
(F) adult or child protective services
information and records.
(b) On request of the contracted [patient safety]
organization, the custodian of the relevant information and records
relating to a deceased person shall provide those records to the
contracted [patient safety] organization at no charge.
SECTION 7. Section 531.853, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 531.853. MORTALITY REVIEW REPORT. Subject to Section
531.854, a contracted [The patient safety] organization shall[, to
the extent allowed by federal law,] submit:
(1) to the Department of Aging and Disability
Services, the Department of Family and Protective Services, the
office of independent ombudsman for state supported living centers,
and the commission's office of inspector general a report of the
findings of the mortality review; and
(2) semiannually to the governor, the lieutenant
governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the
standing committees of the senate and house of representatives with
primary jurisdiction over the Department of Aging and Disability
Services, the Department of Family and Protective Services, the
office of independent ombudsman for state supported living centers,
and the commission's office of inspector general a report that
contains:
(A) aggregate information regarding the deaths
for which the contracted [patient safety] organization performed an
independent mortality review;
(B) trends in the causes of death identified by
the contracted [patient safety] organization; and
(C) any suggestions for system-wide improvements
to address conditions that contributed to deaths reviewed by the
contracted [patient safety] organization.
SECTION 8. Section 531.854, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a), (b), and (e) and adding Subsections (f)
and (g) to read as follows:
(a) The commission may use or publish information under this
subchapter only to advance statewide practices regarding the
treatment and care of individuals with intellectual and
developmental disabilities. A summary of the data in the
contracted [patient safety] organization's reports or a
statistical compilation of data reports may be released by the
commission for general publication if the summary or statistical
compilation does not contain any information that would permit the
identification of an individual or that is confidential or
privileged under this subchapter or other state or federal law
[patient safety work product].
(b) Information and records acquired by the contracted
[patient safety] organization in the exercise of its duties under
this subchapter are confidential and exempt from disclosure under
the open records law, Chapter 552, and may be disclosed only as
necessary to carry out the contracted [patient safety]
organization's duties.
(e) Reports, information, statements, memoranda, and other
information furnished under this subchapter to the contracted
organization and any findings or conclusions resulting from a
review by the contracted [patient safety] organization are
privileged.
(f) A contracted organization's report of the findings of
the independent mortality review conducted under this subchapter
and any records developed by the contracted organization relating
to the review:
(1) are confidential and privileged;
(2) are not subject to discovery or subpoena; and
(3) may not be introduced into evidence in any civil,
criminal, or administrative proceeding.
(g) A member of the contracted organization's review team
may not testify or be required to testify in a civil, criminal, or
administrative proceeding as to observations, factual findings, or
conclusions that were made in conducting a review under this
subchapter.
SECTION 9. Section 531.855, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 531.855. LIMITATION ON LIABILITY. A health care
provider or other person is not civilly or criminally liable for
furnishing information to the contracted [patient safety]
organization or to the commission for use by the contracted
[patient safety] organization in accordance with this subchapter
unless the person acted in bad faith or knowingly provided false
information to the contracted [patient safety] organization or the
commission.
SECTION 10. Section 555.021, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 555.021. REQUIRED CRIMINAL HISTORY CHECKS FOR
EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS, AND VOLUNTEERS [OF CENTERS]. (a) The
department, [and] the Department of State Health Services, and the
Health and Human Services Commission shall perform a state and
federal criminal history background check on a person:
(1) who is:
(A) an applicant for employment with the agency;
(B) an employee of the agency;
(C) a volunteer with the agency; [or]
(D) an applicant for a volunteer position with
the agency;
(E) an applicant for a contract with the agency;
or
(F) a contractor of the agency; and
(2) who would be placed in direct contact with a
resident or client.
(b) The department, [and] the Department of State Health
Services, and the Health and Human Services Commission shall
require a person described by Subsection (a) to submit fingerprints
in a form and of a quality acceptable to the Department of Public
Safety and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for use in
conducting a criminal history background check.
(c) Each agency shall obtain electronic updates from the
Department of Public Safety of arrests and convictions of a person:
(1) for whom the agency performs a background check
under Subsection (a); and
(2) who remains an employee, contractor, or volunteer
of the agency and continues to have direct contact with a resident
or client.
SECTION 11. Section 252.134, Health and Safety Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 12. Section 531.851, Government Code, as amended by
this Act, does not apply to a contract entered into by the executive
commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission before
June 1, 2013. A contract entered into before June 1, 2013, is
governed by the law in effect on the date the contract was entered
into, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 13. This Act takes effect immediately if it
receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each
house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.
If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate
effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2673 was passed by the House on April
25, 2013, by the following vote: Yeas 136, Nays 0, 2 present, not
voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2673 was passed by the Senate on May
20, 2013, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor