Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H2396 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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2	2	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2274 FILED ON: 1/15/2025
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2396
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Marjorie C. Decker
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act relative to safe patient handling and mobility in certain health facilities.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Marjorie C. Decker25th Middlesex1/15/2025Susannah M. Whipps2nd Franklin2/7/2025Rodney M. Elliott16th Middlesex2/10/2025Colleen M. Garry36th Middlesex2/10/2025Paul R. FeeneyBristol and Norfolk2/13/2025Thomas M. Stanley9th Middlesex2/14/2025Vanna Howard17th Middlesex2/18/2025Manny Cruz7th Essex2/27/2025Michael D. BradySecond Plymouth and Norfolk3/3/2025Adrianne Pusateri Ramos14th Essex3/11/2025 1 of 7
16	16	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2274 FILED ON: 1/15/2025
17	17	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2396
18	18	By Representative Decker of Cambridge, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2396) of
19	19	Marjorie C. Decker and others relative to safe patient handling and mobility in certain health
20	20	facilities. Public Health.
21	21	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
22	22	_______________
23	23	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
24	24	(2025-2026)
25	25	_______________
26	26	An Act relative to safe patient handling and mobility in certain health facilities.
27	27	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
28	28	of the same, as follows:
29	29	1 Chapter 111 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby
30	30	2amended by inserting after section 91C the following section:-
31	31	3 Section 91D. As used in this section, the following words, shall, unless the context
32	32	4clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:-
33	33	5 “Department”, the department of public health.
34	34	6 “Health care facility”, any hospital licensed pursuant to sections 51 and 52 and the
35	35	7teaching hospital of the university of Massachusetts medical school, which contains a majority of
36	36	8medical-surgical, pediatric, obstetric, and maternity beds, as defined by the department, any
37	37	9institution, however named, whether conducted for charity or for profit, which is advertised,
38	38	10announced, established or maintained for the purpose of caring for persons admitted thereto for
39	39	11diagnosis, medical, surgical, or restorative treatment which is rendered within said institution ,
40	40	12any licensed private, public or state-owned and operated general acute care rehabilitation 2 of 7
41	41	13hospital or unit, any licensed private, public or state-owned and operated general acute care
42	42	14psychiatric hospital or unit, any nursing home as defined in section 71 and any long term care
43	43	15facility as defined in section 71, and long term care facilities, including any institution, however
44	44	16named, whether conducted for charity or profit, which is advertised, announced or maintained for
45	45	17the express or implied purpose of caring for four or more persons admitted thereto for nursing or
46	46	18convalescent care, as defined in section 71.
47	47	19 “Direct caregiver”, any health facility personnel or lift team member who lifts, transfers,
48	48	20or repositions patients or equipment.
49	49	21 “Lifting and transferring process”, a system whereby patients and situations are identified
50	50	22based on the potential risk of injury to both the patient and health care worker from lifting,
51	51	23transferring, or moving that patient.
52	52	24 “Needs assessment”, an evaluation of lift and transfer needs, resources, and capabilities
53	53	25with recommendations on procedures to be followed and resources available to lift and transfer
54	54	26patients safely.
55	55	27 “Patient”, an individual who receives health services at a hospital, health care facility, or
56	56	28long term care facility.
57	57	29 “Patient care ergonomic evaluation”, evaluation performed in all direct patient care areas
58	58	30including but not limited to acute care, critical care, rehabilitation, radiology, operating room,
59	59	31urgent care, therapy departments, long term care, outpatient service, etc. following guidance
60	60	32from the Patient Care Ergonomics Resource Guide: Safe Patient Handling and Movement put
61	61	33forward by the Veterans Administration, the most recent OSHA Guidelines for Nursing Homes:
62	62	34Ergonomics for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders or other accepted guidance 3 of 7
63	63	35documents to identify ergonomic control measures for decreasing risk of injury from patient
64	64	36handling and moving activities.
65	65	37 “Qualified personnel”, person(s) accountable and responsible for the ongoing education
66	66	38and knowledge of patient needs assessment, engineering equipment and patient ergonomics.
67	67	39 “Resident”, an individual who resides in a long term care facility.
68	68	40 “Safe patient handling and mobility policy”, a written statement describing the
69	69	41replacement of manual lifting and transferring of patients and equipment with powered transfer
70	70	42devices, lifting devices, and consistent with a needs assessment and mandating the replacement
71	71	43of manual lifting and transferring of patients with techniques using current patient handling
72	72	44equipment and technology to lift patients unless specifically contraindicated for a patient’s
73	73	45condition or medical status. Such technology and equipment includes, but is not limited to
74	74	46mechanical lifting devices, lateral transfer aids, friction reducing devices, fast electric beds,
75	75	47motorized beds, and other equipment, consistent with clinical unit/area patient care ergonomic
76	76	48evaluation recommendations. Such policy shall also require the use of individual patient
77	77	49handling assessments for each patient or resident requiring assistance.
78	78	50 Within six months of the date of enactment, each health care facility shall establish a safe
79	79	51patient handling and mobility committee through the creation of a new committee or by
80	80	52assigning the functions of a safe patient handling committee to an existing committee. The
81	81	53purpose of the committee is to design and recommend the process for implementing a safe
82	82	54patient handling and mobility program and to oversee the implementation of the program. At
83	83	55least half the members of the safe patient handling committee shall be non-managerial
84	84	56employees who provide direct care to patients and shall include but not be limited to nurses, 4 of 7
85	85	57certified nursing assistants, physical therapists, occupational therapists, maintenance staff and
86	86	58infection control employees.
87	87	59 By December 1, 2025, the governing body of a hospital or the quality assurance
88	88	60committee of a nursing home shall adopt and ensure implementation of a safe patient handling
89	89	61and mobility program to identify, assess, and develop strategies to control risk of injury to
90	90	62patients and direct caregivers associated with the lifting, transferring, repositioning, or movement
91	91	63of a patient or equipment, such that manual lifting or transfer of patients is minimized in all cases
92	92	64and eliminated when feasible and manual patient handling or movement of all or most of a
93	93	65patient’s weight is restricted to emergency, life-threatening, or otherwise exception
94	94	66circumstances. As part of this program, each facility shall:
95	95	67 (1) Conduct a comprehensive analysis of the risk of injury to both patients and direct
96	96	68caregivers posed by the patient handling needs of the patient populations served by the
97	97	69healthcare facility and the physical environment in which patient and equipment handling and
98	98	70movement occurs, through:
99	99	71 (a) Evaluate alternative ways to reduce risks associated with patient and equipment
100	100	72handling, including evaluation of equipment and patient care and patient support environments;
101	101	73 (b) Conduct individual patient care ergonomic evaluations in all patient care areas,
102	102	74following guidance from the Patient Care Ergonomics Resource Guide: Safe Patient Handling
103	103	75and Movement put forward by the Veterans Administration, the most recent OSHA Guidelines
104	104	76for Nursing Homes: Ergonomics for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders or other
105	105	77accepted guidance documents to identify ergonomic control measures for decreasing risk of
106	106	78injury from patient handling and moving activities. 5 of 7
107	107	79 (c) Develop and implement safe patient handling and mobility policies based on the
108	108	80needs of all shifts and units of the facility.
109	109	81 (2) Conduct a comprehensive analysis of the benefits of early and consistent mobility to
110	110	82the patient population served by the healthcare facility.
111	111	83 (3) Identify and list the type and quantity of patient handling equipment and other
112	112	84equipment required on each clinical unit or area and ensure that the purchase and acquisition of
113	113	85all such equipment is incorporated into the safe patient handling program. Patient handling
114	114	86measures, patient handling equipment and technology shall include but not be limited to
115	115	87mechanical lifting devices, lateral transfer aids, friction reducing devices, and motorized beds.
116	116	88 (4) Provide patient handling equipment and technology as stipulated in section (3) which
117	117	89is appropriate for each clinical area and patient or resident population, to reduce the risk of injury
118	118	90to direct caregivers, patients or residents.
119	119	91 (5) Provide specialized training in safe patient handling by qualified personnel to all
120	120	92direct caregivers who lift, transfer, or reposition patients, including but not limited to
121	121	93demonstration of proficiency in safe techniques for lifting or transferring patients and the
122	122	94appropriate use of lifting or transferring devices and equipment. Health care facilities must train
123	123	95staff on policies, equipment, and devices at least annually.
124	124	96 (6) Develop procedures for direct caregivers to refuse to perform or be involved in patient
125	125	97and equipment handling or movement that the direct caregiver believes in good faith will expose
126	126	98a patient or a direct caregiver to an unacceptable risk of injury without subjecting such direct
127	127	99caregiver to disciplinary action. 6 of 7
128	128	100 (7) Prepare an annual performance evaluation report and submit to the governing body or
129	129	101the quality assurance committee on activities related to both the identification, assessment, and
130	130	102development of strategies to control risk of injury to patients and direct caregivers associated
131	131	103with the lifting, transferring, repositioning, or movement of a patient with statistics on the
132	132	104numbers and types of injury to the facilities health care workers and patients and any
133	133	105improvements to patient outcomes due to increased mobility, including but not limited to length
134	134	106of stay;
135	135	107 (8) Track, publish and disseminate annual injury data including: the financial cost of all
136	136	108safe patient and equipment handling injuries suffered by employees and patients; the nature and
137	137	109cause of injury; date, shift, and unit statistics; cost to the institution and to employees and
138	138	110patients; and outcomes; to the extent permitted by privacy regulations.;
139	139	111 (9) Identify the type and quantity of patient handling equipment and other equipment
140	140	112required and ensure that the purchase of other acquisition of all such equipment is incorporated
141	141	113into the safe patient handling program; and
142	142	114 (10). Develop a comprehensive tracking system for all equipment purchased for the safe
143	143	115patient handling and mobility program, including ensuring proper maintenance of said
144	144	116equipment.
145	145	117 By December 30, 2028, health care facilities shall complete the acquisition of safe patient
146	146	118handling equipment determined to be required by their safe patient handling and mobility
147	147	119committee. Such equipment shall include, though not be limited to: (a) at least one readily
148	148	120available lift and all necessary components per unit unless the facility’s safe patient handling and
149	149	121mobility committee determines that more lifts are required on the unit. 7 of 7
150	150	122 The department shall ensure that every health care facility has in place a safe patient
151	151	123handling and mobility program and has completed the acquisition of all equipment and
152	152	124technology deemed necessary by the facility’s safe patient handling and mobility committee. The
153	153	125department shall also develop methods to ensure compliance including, but not limited to,
154	154	126penalties for non-compliance.
155	155	127 Within one year of passage, any development of architectural plans for constructing or
156	156	128remodeling a healthcare facility or a unit of a healthcare facility must incorporate patient
157	157	129handling equipment and the construction design needed to accommodate such equipment as
158	158	130deemed necessary by the safe patient handling and mobility committee.