The Florida Senate

394.90  Inspection; right of entry; records.--

(1)(a)  The department and the agency may enter and inspect at any time a licensed facility to determine whether the facility is in compliance with this chapter and the rules of the department.

(b)  The department and the agency may enter and inspect any premises that it has probable cause to suspect may be operating as an unlicensed crisis stabilization unit or residential treatment facility; however, such entry and inspection shall be made only with the permission of the person in charge of such premises or pursuant to warrant.

(c)  Any application for licensure under this chapter constitutes full permission for the department and the agency to enter and inspect the premises of the applicant or licensee at any time.

(2)  For purposes of monitoring and investigation, the department and the Agency for Health Care Administration shall have access to the clinical records of any client of a licensee or designated facility, the provisions of s. 394.4615 to the contrary notwithstanding.

(3)  The agency shall schedule periodic inspections of licensees so as to minimize the cost to the licensees and the disruption of the licensees' programs. This subsection shall not be construed to limit the authority of the department and the agency to inspect the facilities of a licensee at any time.

(4)  Each licensee shall maintain as public information, available to any person upon request, copies of all reports of inspections of the licensee filed with or issued by any governmental agency during the preceding 5-year period. The licensee shall furnish a copy of the most recent inspection report of the agency to any person upon payment of a reasonable charge for copying.

(5)(a)  The agency may accept, in lieu of its own inspections for licensure, the survey or inspection of an accrediting organization, if the provider is accredited and the agency receives the report of the accrediting organization. The department, in consultation with the agency, shall develop, and adopt by rule, specific criteria for assuring that the accrediting organization has specific standards and experience related to the program area being licensed, specific criteria for accepting the standards and survey methodologies of an accrediting organization, delineations of the obligations of accrediting organizations to assure adherence to those standards, criteria for receiving, accepting and maintaining the confidentiality of the survey and corrective action reports, and allowance for the agency's participation in surveys.

(b)  The agency shall conduct compliance investigations and sample validation inspections to evaluate the inspection process of accrediting organizations to ensure minimum standards are maintained as provided in Florida statute and rule. The agency may conduct a lifesafety inspection in calendar years in which an accrediting organization survey is not conducted and shall conduct a full state inspection, including a lifesafety inspection, if an accrediting organization survey has not been conducted within the previous 36 months. The agency, by accepting the survey or inspection of an accrediting organization, does not forfeit its right to perform inspections.

History.--ss. 7, 11, ch. 85-167; s. 4, ch. 91-429; s. 47, ch. 93-39; s. 28, ch. 96-169; s. 65, ch. 97-100; s. 32, ch. 98-171.