Minnesota Session Laws - 2005, Regular Session

                             CHAPTER 85-S.F.No. 718 
                  An act relating to health; authorizing an additional 
                  hospital accrediting organization for presumptive 
                  licensure purposes; amending Minnesota Statutes 2004, 
                  sections 144.122; 144.55, subdivisions 2, 4, 5. 
        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
           Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 144.122, is 
        amended to read: 
           144.122 [LICENSE, PERMIT, AND SURVEY FEES.] 
           (a) The state commissioner of health, by rule, may 
        prescribe reasonable procedures and fees for filing with the 
        commissioner as prescribed by statute and for the issuance of 
        original and renewal permits, licenses, registrations, and 
        certifications issued under authority of the commissioner.  The 
        expiration dates of the various licenses, permits, 
        registrations, and certifications as prescribed by the rules 
        shall be plainly marked thereon.  Fees may include application 
        and examination fees and a penalty fee for renewal applications 
        submitted after the expiration date of the previously issued 
        permit, license, registration, and certification.  The 
        commissioner may also prescribe, by rule, reduced fees for 
        permits, licenses, registrations, and certifications when the 
        application therefor is submitted during the last three months 
        of the permit, license, registration, or certification period.  
        Fees proposed to be prescribed in the rules shall be first 
        approved by the Department of Finance.  All fees proposed to be 
        prescribed in rules shall be reasonable.  The fees shall be in 
        an amount so that the total fees collected by the commissioner 
        will, where practical, approximate the cost to the commissioner 
        in administering the program.  All fees collected shall be 
        deposited in the state treasury and credited to the state 
        government special revenue fund unless otherwise specifically 
        appropriated by law for specific purposes. 
           (b) The commissioner may charge a fee for voluntary 
        certification of medical laboratories and environmental 
        laboratories, and for environmental and medical laboratory 
        services provided by the department, without complying with 
        paragraph (a) or chapter 14.  Fees charged for environment and 
        medical laboratory services provided by the department must be 
        approximately equal to the costs of providing the services.  
           (c) The commissioner may develop a schedule of fees for 
        diagnostic evaluations conducted at clinics held by the services 
        for children with handicaps program.  All receipts generated by 
        the program are annually appropriated to the commissioner for 
        use in the maternal and child health program. 
           (d) The commissioner shall set license fees for hospitals 
        and nursing homes that are not boarding care homes at the 
        following levels: 
        Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare 
        Organizations (JCAHO hospitals)        
        and American Osteopathic  
        Association (AOA) hospitals      $7,055
        Non-JCAHO and non-AOA hospitals  $4,680 plus $234 per bed
        Nursing home                     $183 plus $91 per bed
           The commissioner shall set license fees for outpatient 
        surgical centers, boarding care homes, and supervised living 
        facilities at the following levels: 
        Outpatient surgical centers      $1,512
        Boarding care homes              $183 plus $91 per bed
        Supervised living facilities     $183 plus $91 per bed.
           (e) Unless prohibited by federal law, the commissioner of 
        health shall charge applicants the following fees to cover the 
        cost of any initial certification surveys required to determine 
        a provider's eligibility to participate in the Medicare or 
        Medicaid program: 
        Prospective payment surveys for          $  900
        hospitals
        Swing bed surveys for nursing homes      $1,200
        Psychiatric hospitals                    $1,400
        Rural health facilities                  $1,100
        Portable x-ray providers                 $  500
        Home health agencies                     $1,800
        Outpatient therapy agencies              $  800
        End stage renal dialysis providers       $2,100
        Independent therapists                   $  800
        Comprehensive rehabilitation             $1,200
        outpatient facilities
        Hospice providers                        $1,700
        Ambulatory surgical providers            $1,800
        Hospitals                                $4,200
        Other provider categories or             Actual surveyor costs:
        additional resurveys required            average surveyor cost x
        to complete initial certification        number of hours for the
                                                 survey process.
           These fees shall be submitted at the time of the 
        application for federal certification and shall not be 
        refunded.  All fees collected after the date that the imposition 
        of fees is not prohibited by federal law shall be deposited in 
        the state treasury and credited to the state government special 
        revenue fund. 
           Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 144.55, 
        subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 2.  [DEFINITIONS.] For the purposes of this section, 
        the following terms have the meanings given: 
           (a) "Outpatient surgical center" or "center" means a 
        freestanding facility organized for the specific purpose of 
        providing elective outpatient surgery for preexamined, 
        prediagnosed, low-risk patients.  Admissions are limited to 
        procedures that utilize general anesthesia or conscious sedation 
        and that do not require overnight inpatient care.  An outpatient 
        surgical center is not organized to provide regular emergency 
        medical services and does not include a physician's or dentist's 
        office or clinic for the practice of medicine, the practice of 
        dentistry, or the delivery of primary care. 
           (b) "Joint commission"  "Approved accrediting organization" 
        means the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care 
        Organizations or the American Osteopathic Association.  
           Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 144.55, 
        subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 4.  [ROUTINE INSPECTIONS; PRESUMPTION.] Any hospital 
        surveyed and accredited under the standards of the hospital 
        accreditation program of the joint commission an approved 
        accrediting organization that submits to the commissioner within 
        a reasonable time copies of (a) its currently valid 
        accreditation certificate and accreditation letter, together 
        with accompanying recommendations and comments and (b) any 
        further recommendations, progress reports and correspondence 
        directly related to the accreditation is presumed to comply with 
        application requirements of subdivision 1 and the standards 
        requirements of subdivision 3 and no further routine inspections 
        or accreditation information shall be required by the 
        commissioner to determine compliance.  Notwithstanding the 
        provisions of sections 144.54 and 144.653, subdivisions 2 and 4, 
        hospitals shall be inspected only as provided in this section.  
        The provisions of section 144.653 relating to the assessment and 
        collection of fines shall not apply to any hospital.  The 
        commissioner of health shall annually conduct, with notice, 
        validation inspections of a selected sample of the number of 
        hospitals accredited by the joint commission an approved 
        accrediting organization, not to exceed ten percent of 
        accredited hospitals, for the purpose of determining compliance 
        with the provisions of subdivision 3.  If a validation survey 
        discloses a failure to comply with subdivision 3, the provisions 
        of section 144.653 relating to correction orders, reinspections, 
        and notices of noncompliance shall apply.  The commissioner 
        shall also conduct any inspection necessary to determine whether 
        hospital construction, addition, or remodeling projects comply 
        with standards for construction promulgated in rules pursuant to 
        subdivision 3.  Pursuant to section 144.653, the commissioner 
        shall inspect any hospital that does not have a currently valid 
        hospital accreditation certificate from the joint commission an 
        approved accrediting organization.  Nothing in this subdivision 
        shall be construed to limit the investigative powers of the 
        Office of Health Facility Complaints as established in sections 
        144A.51 to 144A.54. 
           Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 144.55, 
        subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 5.  [COORDINATION OF INSPECTIONS.] Prior to 
        conducting routine inspections of hospitals and outpatient 
        surgical centers, a state agency shall notify the commissioner 
        of its intention to inspect.  The commissioner shall then 
        determine whether the inspection is necessary in light of any 
        previous inspections conducted by the commissioner, any other 
        state agency, or the joint commission an approved accrediting 
        organization.  The commissioner shall notify the agency of the 
        determination and may authorize the agency to conduct the 
        inspection.  No state agency may routinely inspect any hospital 
        without the authorization of the commissioner.  The commissioner 
        shall coordinate, insofar as is possible, routine inspections 
        conducted by state agencies, so as to minimize the number of 
        inspections to which hospitals are subject. 
           Presented to the governor May 20, 2005 
           Signed by the governor May 24, 2005, 2:55 p.m.