Senate Bill sb0460

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    Florida Senate - 2003                                   SB 460

    By Senators Pruitt and Klein





    28-344B-03

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to health care; amending s.

  3         408.036, F.S.; providing an exemption from

  4         certificate-of-need requirements for certain

  5         open-heart-surgery programs; providing criteria

  6         for qualifying for the exemption; requiring the

  7         Agency for Health Care Administration to report

  8         to the Legislature; providing for expiration of

  9         the exemption; providing an effective date.

10  

11  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

12  

13         Section 1.  Paragraph (t) is added to subsection (3) of

14  section 408.036, Florida Statutes, to read:

15         408.036  Projects subject to review.--

16         (3)  EXEMPTIONS.--Upon request, the following projects

17  are subject to exemption from the provisions of subsection

18  (1):

19         (t)1.  For the provision of adult open-heart services

20  in a hospital located within the boundaries of the Agency for

21  Health Care Administration's service district 1, service

22  district 6, or service district 9. When a clear problem exists

23  in access to needed cardiac services, consideration must be

24  given to creating an exemption. While such needs might be

25  addressed by the changing of the specific need criteria under

26  the certificate-of-need law, the problem of protracted

27  administrative appeals would still remain. The exemption must

28  be based upon objective criteria and address and solve the

29  twin problems of geographic and temporal access. A hospital

30  shall be exempt from the certificate-of-need review for the

31  establishment of an open-heart-surgery program when the

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    Florida Senate - 2003                                   SB 460
    28-344B-03




 1  application for exemption submitted under this paragraph

 2  complies with the following criteria:

 3         a.  The applicant must certify that it will meet and

 4  continuously maintain the minimum licensure requirements

 5  adopted by the agency governing adult open-heart programs,

 6  including the most current guidelines of the American College

 7  of Cardiology and American Heart Association Guidelines for

 8  Adult Open Heart Programs.

 9         b.  The applicant must certify that it will maintain

10  sufficient appropriate equipment and health personnel to

11  ensure quality and safety.

12         c.  The applicant must certify that it will maintain

13  appropriate times of operation and protocols to ensure

14  availability and appropriate referrals in the event of

15  emergencies.

16         d.  The applicant can demonstrate that it is referring

17  300 or more cardiac patients from the hospital, including the

18  emergency room, per year to a hospital with cardiac services,

19  or that the average wait for transfer for 50 percent or more

20  of the cardiac patients exceeds 4 hours.

21         e.  The applicant is a general acute care hospital that

22  is in operation for 3 years or more.

23         f.  The applicant is performing more than 300

24  diagnostic cardiac catheterization procedures per year,

25  combined inpatient and outpatient.

26         g.  The applicant's payor mix at a minimum reflects the

27  community average for Medicaid, charity care, and self-pay

28  patients or the applicant must certify that it will provide a

29  minimum of 5 percent of Medicaid, charity care, and self-pay

30  to open-heart-surgery patients.

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    Florida Senate - 2003                                   SB 460
    28-344B-03




 1         h.  If the applicant fails to meet the established

 2  criteria for open-heart programs or fails to reach 300

 3  surgeries per year by the end of its third year of operation,

 4  it must show cause why its exemption should not be revoked.

 5         2.  By December 31, 2004, and annually thereafter, the

 6  Agency for Health Care Administration shall submit a report to

 7  the Legislature providing information concerning the number of

 8  requests for exemption received under this paragraph and the

 9  number of exemptions granted or denied.

10         3.  This paragraph is repealed effective July 1, 2006.

11         Section 2.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

12  law.

13  

14            *****************************************

15                          SENATE SUMMARY

16    Until July 1, 2006, exempts a hospital located within the
      boundaries of the Agency for Health Care Administration's
17    service district 1, service district 6, or service
      district 9 which provides certain adult
18    open-heart-surgery services from the requirement that it
      obtain a certificate of need from the Agency for Health
19    Care Administration. Requires the hospital to certify
      that it will provide at least 5 percent of such services
20    to charity, Medicaid, or self-pay patients.

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