WEST virginia legislature
2018 regular session
Introduced
House Bill 4178
By Delegates Summers, Longstreth, Ellington, Espinosa and Householder
[Introduced January 18, 2018;
Referred
to the Committee on Education then Health and Human Resources.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §16-5C-2 and §16-5C-5 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to permitting certain portions of certified nurse aide training to be provided through distance learning technologies.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
ARTICLE 5C. NURSING HOMES.
§16-5C-2. Definitions.
As used in this article, unless a different meaning appears from the context:
(a) “Deficiency” means a nursing home's failure to meet
the requirements specified in §16-5C-1 et seq. of this code and rules
promulgated thereunder.
(b) “Director” means the secretary of the Department of
Health and Human Resources or his or her designee.
“Distance learning technologies” means computer-centered technologies delivered over the internet, broadcasts, recordings, instructional videos, or videoconferencing.
(c) “Household” means a private home or residence which
is separate from or unattached to a nursing home.
(d) “Immediate jeopardy” means a situation in which the
nursing home's noncompliance with one or more of the provisions of this article
or rules promulgated thereunder has caused or is likely to cause serious harm,
impairment or death to a resident.
(e) “Nursing home” or “facility” means any institution,
residence or place, or any part or unit thereof, however named, in this state
which is advertised, offered, maintained or operated by the ownership or
management, whether for a consideration or not, for the express or implied purpose
of providing accommodations and care, for a period of more than twenty-four
hours, for four or more persons who are ill or otherwise incapacitated and in
need of extensive, ongoing nursing care due to physical or mental impairment or
which provides services for the rehabilitation of persons who are convalescing
from illness or incapacitation.
The care or treatment in a household, whether for compensation or not, of any person related by blood or marriage, within the degree of consanguinity of second cousin to the head of the household, or his or her spouse, may not be deemed to constitute a nursing home within the meaning of this article. Nothing contained in this article applies to nursing homes operated by the federal government; or extended care facilities operated in conjunction with a hospital; or institutions operated for the treatment and care of alcoholic patients; or offices of physicians; or hotels, boarding homes or other similar places that furnish to their guests only room and board; or to homes or asylums operated by fraternal orders pursuant to §35-3-1 et seq. of this code.
(f) “Nursing care” means those procedures commonly
employed in providing for the physical, emotional and rehabilitational needs of
the ill or otherwise incapacitated which require technical skills and knowledge
beyond that which the untrained person possesses, including, but not limited
to, such procedures as: Irrigations, catheterization, special procedure
contributing to rehabilitation, and administration of medication by any method
which involves a level of complexity and skill in administration not possessed
by the untrained person.
(g) “Resident” means an individual living in a nursing
home.
(h) “Review organization” means any committee or
organization engaging in peer review or quality assurance, including, but not
limited to, a medical audit committee, a health insurance review committee, a
professional health service plan review committee or organization, a dental
review committee, a physician's advisory committee, a podiatry advisory
committee, a nursing advisory committee, any committee or organization
established pursuant to a medical assistance program, any committee or
organization established or required under state or federal statutes, rules or
regulations, and any committee established by one or more state or local
professional societies or institutes, to gather and review information relating
to the care and treatment of residents for the purposes of:
(1) Evaluating and improving the quality of health care
rendered;
(2) reducing morbidity or mortality; or
(3) establishing and enforcing guidelines designed to
keep within reasonable bounds the cost of health care.
(i) “Sponsor” means the person or agency legally
responsible for the welfare and support of a resident.
(j) “Person” means an individual and every form of
organization, whether incorporated or unincorporated, including any
partnership, corporation, trust, association or political subdivision of the
state.
(k) “Substantial compliance” means a level of compliance
with the rules such that no deficiencies exist or such that identified
deficiencies pose no greater risk to resident health or safety than the
potential for causing minimal harm.
The director may define in the rules any term used herein which is not expressly defined.
§16-5C-5. Rules; minimum standards for nursing homes.
(a) All rules shall be proposed for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of §29A-3-1 et seq. of this code. The director shall recommend the adoption, amendment or repeal of such rules as may be necessary or proper to carry out the purposes and intent of this article.
(b) The director shall recommend rules establishing minimum standards of operation of nursing homes including, but not limited to, the following:
(1) Administrative policies, including: (A) An affirmative statement of the right of access to nursing homes by members of recognized community organizations and community legal services programs whose purposes include rendering assistance without charge to residents, consistent with the right of residents to privacy; and (B) a statement of the rights and responsibilities of residents in nursing homes which prescribe, as a minimum, such a statement of residents' rights as included in the United States Department of Health and Human Services regulations, in force on the effective date of this article, governing participation of nursing homes in the Medicare and Medicaid programs pursuant to titles eighteen and nineteen of the Social Security Act;
(2) Minimum numbers of administrators, medical directors, nurses, aides and other personnel according to the occupancy of the facility;
(3) Qualifications of facility's administrators, medical directors, nurses, aides, and other personnel;
(4) Safety requirements;
(5) Sanitation requirements;
(6) Personal services to be provided;
(7) Dietary services to be provided;
(8) Medical records;
(9) Social and recreational activities to be made available;
(10) Pharmacy services;
(11) Nursing services;
(12) Medical services;
(13) Physical facility;
(14) Resident rights;
(15) Visitation privileges that:
(A) Permit immediate access to a resident, subject to the resident's right to deny or withdraw consent at any time, by immediate family or other relatives of the resident;
(B) Permit immediate access to a resident, subject to reasonable restrictions and the resident's right to deny or withdraw consent at any time, by others who are visiting with the consent of the resident; and
(C) Permit access to other specific persons or classes of persons consistent with state and federal law.
(16) Admission, transfer and discharge rights.
(c) The director shall permit the nonclinical instruction portions of a nurse aide training program approved by the Office of Health Facility Licensure and Certification to be provided through distance learning technologies.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow certain portions of certified nurse aide training to be provided through distance learning technologies.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.