By: Johnson S.B. No. 1238
(Rose)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the admission, examination, and discharge of a person
for voluntary mental health services.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 572.0025, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (f) and (g) and adding Subsections
(f-1), (f-2), and (f-3) to read as follows:
(f) A prospective voluntary patient may not be formally
accepted for treatment in a facility unless:
(1) the facility has a physician's order admitting the
prospective patient, which order may be issued orally,
electronically, or in writing, signed by the physician, provided
that, in the case of an oral order or an electronically transmitted
unsigned order, a signed original is presented to the mental health
facility within 24 hours of the initial order; the order must be
from:
(A) an admitting physician who has, either in
person or through the use of audiovisual or other
telecommunications technology, conducted a physical and
psychiatric examination within:
(i) 72 hours before [of the] admission; or
(ii) 24 hours after admission; or
(B) an admitting physician who has consulted with
a physician who has, either in person or through the use of
audiovisual or other telecommunications technology, conducted an
examination within:
(i) 72 hours before [of the] admission; or
(ii) 24 hours after admission; and
(2) the facility administrator or a person designated
by the administrator has agreed to accept the prospective patient
and has signed a statement to that effect.
(f-1) A person who is admitted to a facility before the
performance of the physical and psychiatric examination required by
Subsection (f) must be discharged by the physician immediately if
the physician conducting the physical and psychiatric examination
determines the person does not meet the clinical standards to
receive inpatient mental health services.
(f-2) A facility that discharges a patient under the
circumstances described by Subsection (f-1) may not bill the
patient or the patient's third-party payor for the temporary
admission of the patient to the inpatient mental health facility.
(f-3) Sections 572.001(c) and (c-2) apply to the admission
of a minor in the managing conservatorship of the Department of
Family and Protective Services to an inpatient mental health
facility.
(g) An assessment conducted as required by rules adopted
under this section does not satisfy a statutory or regulatory
requirement for a personal evaluation of a patient or a prospective
patient by a physician [before admission].
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.