| 1 | 1 | | 89R1698 SRA-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Hughes S.B. No. 672 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | |
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| 6 | 6 | | |
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| 7 | 7 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 8 | 8 | | AN ACT |
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| 9 | 9 | | relating to a requirement that certain hospitals submit a summary |
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| 10 | 10 | | of parts of their emergency department diversion plans to the |
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| 11 | 11 | | Health and Human Services Commission. |
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| 12 | 12 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 13 | 13 | | SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 311, Health and Safety |
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| 14 | 14 | | Code, is amended by adding Section 311.025 to read as follows: |
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| 15 | 15 | | Sec. 311.025. SUMMARY OF CERTAIN PARTS OF EMERGENCY |
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| 16 | 16 | | DEPARTMENT DIVERSION PLAN. (a) In this section: |
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| 17 | 17 | | (1) "Commission" means the Health and Human Services |
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| 18 | 18 | | Commission. |
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| 19 | 19 | | (2) "Diversion plan" means a hospital's process for |
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| 20 | 20 | | temporarily routing patients in need of emergency services to other |
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| 21 | 21 | | hospitals or health facilities during a period when: |
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| 22 | 22 | | (A) the hospital's capacity to provide emergency |
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| 23 | 23 | | services to those patients is significantly diminished; and |
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| 24 | 24 | | (B) the patients, if routed to the hospital, |
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| 25 | 25 | | would likely receive substantially delayed care resulting in worse |
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| 26 | 26 | | health outcomes than would otherwise occur were the patient routed |
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| 27 | 27 | | to another hospital or health facility. |
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| 28 | 28 | | (3) "Hospital" means a hospital licensed under Chapter |
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| 29 | 29 | | 241. |
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| 30 | 30 | | (b) This section applies only to a hospital that has an |
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| 31 | 31 | | emergency department or otherwise regularly provides emergency |
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| 32 | 32 | | services. |
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| 33 | 33 | | (c) A hospital to which this section applies shall submit to |
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| 34 | 34 | | the commission a written summary of the part of the hospital's |
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| 35 | 35 | | diversion plan that addresses diversions from the hospital's |
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| 36 | 36 | | emergency department in the event that the hospital experiences a |
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| 37 | 37 | | cyber attack or an electrical power outage. |
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| 38 | 38 | | (d) If a hospital to which this section applies makes |
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| 39 | 39 | | changes to the part of the plan described by Subsection (c), the |
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| 40 | 40 | | hospital shall update the previously submitted summary and submit |
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| 41 | 41 | | the updated summary to the commission not later than the 30th day |
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| 42 | 42 | | after the date the changes to the plan are adopted by the hospital's |
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| 43 | 43 | | governing body or otherwise approved by the appropriate hospital |
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| 44 | 44 | | administrator. |
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| 45 | 45 | | (e) A summary submitted to the commission under this section |
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| 46 | 46 | | is confidential and excepted from public disclosure under Chapter |
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| 47 | 47 | | 552, Government Code. |
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| 48 | 48 | | SECTION 2. A hospital to which Section 311.025, Health and |
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| 49 | 49 | | Safety Code, as added by this Act, applies shall comply with the |
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| 50 | 50 | | requirements of that section not later than December 1, 2025. |
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| 51 | 51 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |
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