| 15 | | - | Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2021) (a) For purposes of this |
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| 16 | | - | section: |
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| 17 | | - | (1) "Nursing home facility" has the same meaning as provided in |
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| 18 | | - | section 19a-490 of the general statutes; |
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| 19 | | - | (2) "Resident" means a resident of a nursing home facility; |
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| 20 | | - | (3) "Resident representative" means (A) a court-appointed |
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| 21 | | - | conservator of the person or guardian, (B) a health care representative |
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| 22 | | - | appointed pursuant to section 19a-575a of the general statutes, or (C) if |
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| 23 | | - | there is no court-appointed conservator of the person or guardian, or |
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| 24 | | - | health care representative, a person who is (i) designated in a written |
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| 25 | | - | document signed by the resident and included in the resident's records |
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| 26 | | - | on file with the facility, or (ii) if there is no such written document, a |
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| 27 | | - | person who is a legally liable relative or other responsible party, |
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| 28 | | - | provided such person is not an employer or contractor of the facility; |
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| 29 | | - | (4) "Technology" means a device capable of remote audio or video House Bill No. 6457 |
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| 24 | + | Section 1. (Effective from passage) (a) The Commissioner of Social 1 |
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| 25 | + | Services shall conduct a study to determine whether (1) there is a 2 |
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| 26 | + | sufficient number of nursing homes in the state, and (2) the services 3 |
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| 27 | + | offered by such nursing homes meet the need for long-term care. 4 |
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| 28 | + | (b) The study conducted pursuant to subsection (a) of this section 5 |
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| 29 | + | shall include, but need not be limited to, a report on: (1) Decreases or 6 |
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| 30 | + | increases in total nursing home population annually for fiscal years 2016 7 |
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| 31 | + | to 2020, inclusive; (2) state budget expenditures on nursing home care 8 |
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| 32 | + | in each of said fiscal years; and (3) whether any programmatic or 9 |
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| 33 | + | legislative changes are needed to better serve adults in need of 10 |
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| 34 | + | institutionalized care. 11 |
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| 35 | + | (c) Not later than July 1, 2022, the Commissioner of Social Services 12 |
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| 36 | + | shall report on the results of the study done pursuant to subsection (a) 13 |
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| 37 | + | of this section, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the 14 |
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| 38 | + | general statutes, to the joint standing committees of the General 15 Raised Bill No. 6457 |
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| 33 | | - | communications, or both, that may include recording capabilities; |
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| 34 | | - | (5) "Virtual monitoring" means remote monitoring of a resident by a |
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| 35 | | - | third party via technology owned and operated by the resident in the |
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| 36 | | - | resident's room or living quarters; and |
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| 37 | | - | (6) "Virtual visitation" means remote visitation between a resident |
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| 38 | | - | and family members or other persons with technology. |
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| 39 | | - | (b) An employee of a nursing home facility or an employee of a |
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| 40 | | - | contractor providing services at a nursing home facility who is the |
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| 41 | | - | subject of proposed disciplinary action by the nursing home facility |
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| 42 | | - | based upon evidence obtained from technology used by a resident for |
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| 43 | | - | virtual visitation or virtual monitoring shall be given access to that |
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| 44 | | - | evidence by the nursing home facility for the purpose of defending |
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| 45 | | - | against such action, provided the nursing home facility and the |
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| 46 | | - | employee (1) treat any recordings or images obtained from the |
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| 47 | | - | technology as confidential, and (2) not further disseminate any |
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| 48 | | - | recordings or images obtained from the technology to any other person |
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| 49 | | - | except as required under law. Any copy of a recording or image used in |
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| 50 | | - | such disciplinary action must be returned to the resident who provided |
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| 51 | | - | the copy when it is no longer needed for purposes of defending against |
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| 52 | | - | a proposed action. |
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| 53 | | - | (c) The Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman, may, without |
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| 54 | | - | consulting a nursing home facility, ask a resident about the existence of |
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| 55 | | - | recordings or images taken from technology used for virtual visitation |
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| 56 | | - | or virtual monitoring that could corroborate an allegation of abuse or |
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| 57 | | - | neglect. |
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| 58 | | - | (d) Except as otherwise required under law, a resident or resident |
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| 59 | | - | representative may voluntarily release recordings or images taken from |
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| 60 | | - | technology used for virtual monitoring or virtual visitation, provided |
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| 61 | | - | such release does not infringe on the privacy rights of any other person House Bill No. 6457 |
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| 41 | + | LCO 2612 {\\PRDFS1\HCOUSERS\BARRYJN\WS\2021HB-06457- |
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| 42 | + | R01-HB.docx } |
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| 43 | + | 2 of 2 |
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| 65 | | - | under state or federal law. A nursing home facility, or any agent or |
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| 66 | | - | employee of a nursing home facility, may not solicit or request any |
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| 67 | | - | recordings or images from a resident or a resident representative taken |
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| 68 | | - | from technology used for virtual visitation or virtual monitoring for any |
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| 69 | | - | reason, except for the purpose of investigating an allegation of abuse or |
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| 70 | | - | neglect based upon a recording or image taken from such technology. If |
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| 71 | | - | the Department of Public Health initiates a complaint investigation |
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| 72 | | - | based upon an image or recording from virtual visitation technology or |
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| 73 | | - | virtual monitoring technology, the Department of Public Health may |
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| 74 | | - | provide a copy of such image or recording to the nursing home facility |
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| 75 | | - | that is the subject of the investigation. |
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| 52 | + | Section 1 from passage New section |
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