House File 115 - Introduced
HOUSE FILE 115
BY BRINK
A BILL FOR
1 An Act relating to emergency care policy and procedure
2 requirements applicable to an ambulatory surgical center.
3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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1 Section 1. NEW SECTION. 135Q.1 Ambulatory surgical centers
2 —— emergency care policies and procedures.
3 1. An ambulatory surgical center shall have in place
4 established written policies and procedures to provide
5 appropriate care to the center’s patients if a patient requires
6 emergency care. The policies and procedures shall provide for
7 all of the following:
8 a. Readily available on-site equipment and supplies and the
9 appropriately trained staff necessary to administer emergency
10 care protocols.
11 b. Prearranged obtainability of ambulance services for
12 transporting a patient to a local hospital when emergency
13 services are required and notification of the patient’s next of
14 kin or a responsible party when such transport is required.
15 c. A written transfer agreement between the ambulatory
16 surgical center and at least one local hospital that requires
17 the hospital to accept a patient requiring emergency care
18 being transferred from the ambulatory surgical center to the
19 hospital.
20 d. The documentation required to accompany the patient to
21 the hospital to be submitted by the ambulatory surgical center
22 to the receiving hospital at the time a patient is transferred
23 for emergency care. Such documentation shall include a copy of
24 all of the patient’s medical records related to the patient’s
25 condition including observations of the patient’s signs and
26 symptoms, the patient’s preliminary diagnosis, any treatment
27 provided to the patient, the results of any tests, and a copy
28 of the informed written consent for the patient’s procedure
29 scheduled or performed at the ambulatory surgical center prior
30 to the transfer.
31 2. For the purposes of this section, “ambulatory surgical
32 center” means a distinct facility that operates exclusively
33 for the purpose of providing surgical services to patients not
34 requiring hospitalization and in which the expected duration of
35 services does not exceed twenty-four hours following admission.
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1 “Ambulatory surgical center” includes a facility that otherwise
2 meets the definition of an ambulatory surgical center whether
3 or not licensed, certified, or accredited as an ambulatory
4 surgical center and which may or may not operate on a partially
5 cash-only or completely cash-only basis. “Ambulatory surgical
6 center” does not include individual or group practice offices
7 of private physicians or podiatrists that do not contain a
8 distinct area used for outpatient surgical treatment on a
9 regular basis or that only provide surgery routinely provided
10 in a physician’s or podiatrist’s office using local anesthesia
11 or conscious sedation; individual or group practice offices
12 of private dentists; or a portion of a licensed hospital
13 designated for outpatient surgical treatment.
14 EXPLANATION
15 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
16 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
17 This bill relates to emergency care policies and procedures
18 for ambulatory surgical centers. The bill specifies the
19 established written policies and procedures to provide
20 appropriate care to an ambulatory surgical center’s patients if
21 a patient requires emergency care. The policies and procedures
22 shall provide for readily available on-site equipment and
23 supplies and the appropriately trained staff necessary to
24 administer emergency care protocols; prearranged obtainability
25 of ambulance services for transporting a patient to a local
26 hospital when emergency services are required and notification
27 of the patient’s next of kin or a responsible party when such
28 transport is required; a written transfer agreement between the
29 ambulatory surgical center and at least one local hospital that
30 requires the hospital to accept a patient requiring emergency
31 care being transferred from the ambulatory surgical center
32 to the hospital; and the documentation required to accompany
33 a patient to the hospital to be submitted by the ambulatory
34 surgical center to the receiving hospital at the time the
35 patient is transferred for emergency care. The bill defines
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1 “ambulatory surgical center” for the purposes of the bill.
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