ENGROSSED*
Senate Bill No. 236
(By Senators Prezioso, Hunter, Sharpe, Unger, Boley and Foster)
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[Introduced February 21, 2005; referred to the Committee
on Health and Human Resources; and then to the Committee on
Finance.]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto two new sections, designated §16-5R-6 and §16-
5R-7, all relating to the Alzheimer's Special Care Standards
Act; providing for training requirements for providers in
health facilities on the subject of Alzheimer's disease;
establishing an Alzheimer's Disease Registry within West
Virginia University to act as a central information database
for policy and planning and training development relative to
Alzheimer's disease; and rulemaking.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto two new sections, designated §16-5R-6 and §16-5R-
7, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5R. THE ALZHEIMER'S SPECIAL CARE STANDARDS ACT.
§16-5R-6. Quality Alzheimer's and dementia care training required.
(a) Any facility providing services to residents in a care
facility under the supervision of the licensed operator, including
adult day care facilities, nursing homes, assisted living
residences and residential care communities, shall provide training
to all staff, employees and contractors on Alzheimer's disease and
related dementia.
(b) The training shall include a basic understanding of
dementias; communication approaches and techniques for use when
interacting with persons with Alzheimer's disease and related
dementia, prevention and management of behaviors common in persons
with Alzheimer's or a related dementia, and activities and
programming appropriate for these residents.
(c) The training curriculum shall include, at a minimum:
(1) Informational packets presented to and reviewed with
staff, employees and contractors upon their starting to work at a
facility; and
(2) Two hours per year of Alzheimer's disease and related
dementia training as part of staff continuing education
requirements.
§16-5R-7. Establishment of a central registry.
(a) There is established within West Virginia University the
Alzheimer's Disease Registry. The purpose of the registry shall be
to assist in the development of public policy and planning relative
to Alzheimer's disease and related dementia and to identify training needs for health care professionals regarding Alzheimer's
disease and related dementia. The registry shall provide a central
database of individuals with Alzheimer's disease or related
dementia
.
(b) The Governing Board of West Virginia University shall
propose rules pursuant to section six, article one, chapter
eighteen-b of this code to permit the establishment of an
Alzheimer's Disease Registry. The rule should provide for:
(1) Collecting and evaluating data regarding the prevalence of
Alzheimer's disease and related dementia
in West Virginia,
including who should report the data to the registry;
(2) What information is to be maintained on the registry and
for how long;
(3) Providing information for policy planning purposes;
(4) Identification of training needs for health care providers
and facilities on Alzheimer's disease and related dementia;
(5) Providing nonidentifying data to support research of
Alzheimer's disease and related dementia
;
(6) Development of curriculum for training health care
providers on Alzheimer's disease and related dementia;
(7) The manner in which families and physicians of persons
reporting to the registry may be contacted to gather additional
data; and
(8) Information on available public and private resources.
(c) The information contained on the registry shall be confidential and all persons to whom the data is released shall
assure patient confidentiality. No publication of information,
biotechnical research or medical data may be made that identifies
the patient by name. The rules promulgated pursuant to this
section shall comply with the requirements of 42 U. S. C. §1301,
et. seq., and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability
Act of 1996.