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144.562 Swing bed approval; issuance of license conditions; violations.

Subdivision 1. Definition. For the purposes of this section, "swing bed" means a hospital bed licensed under sections 144.50 to 144.56 that has been granted a license condition under this section and which has been certified to participate in the federal Medicare program under United States Code, title 42, section 1395 (tt).

Subd. 2. Eligibility for license condition. A hospital is not eligible to receive a license condition for swing beds unless (1) it either has a licensed bed capacity of less than 50 beds defined in the federal Medicare regulations, Code of Federal Regulations, title 42, section 482.66, or it has a licensed bed capacity of 50 beds or more and has swing beds that were approved for Medicare reimbursement before May 1, 1985, or it has a licensed bed capacity of less than 65 beds and the available nursing homes within 50 miles have had, in the aggregate, an average occupancy rate of 96 percent or higher in the most recent two years as documented on the statistical reports to the department of health; and (2) it is located in a rural area as defined in the federal Medicare regulations, Code of Federal Regulations, title 42, section 482.66. Eligible hospitals are allowed a total of 1,460 days of swing bed use per year, provided that no more than ten hospital beds are used as swing beds at any one time. The commissioner of health must approve swing bed use beyond 1,460 days as long as there are no Medicare certified skilled nursing facility beds available within 25 miles of that hospital.

Subd. 3. Approval of license condition. The commissioner of health shall approve a license condition for swing beds if the hospital meets all of the criteria of this subdivision:

(a) The hospital must meet the eligibility criteria in subdivision 2.

(b) The hospital must be in compliance with the Medicare conditions of participation for swing beds under Code of Federal Regulations, title 42, section 482.66.

(c) The hospital must agree, in writing, to limit the length of stay of a patient receiving services in a swing bed to not more than 40 days, or the duration of Medicare eligibility, unless the commissioner of health approves a greater length of stay in an emergency situation. To determine whether an emergency situation exists, the commissioner shall require the hospital to provide documentation that continued services in the swing bed are required by the patient; that no skilled nursing facility beds are available within 25 miles from the patient's home, or in some more remote facility of the resident's choice, that can provide the appropriate level of services required by the patient; and that other alternative services are not available to meet the needs of the patient. If the commissioner approves a greater length of stay, the hospital shall develop a plan providing for the discharge of the patient upon the availability of a nursing home bed or other services that meet the needs of the patient. Permission to extend a patient's length of stay must be requested by the hospital at least ten days prior to the end of the maximum length of stay.

(d) The hospital must agree, in writing, to limit admission to a swing bed only to (1) patients who have been hospitalized and not yet discharged from the facility, or (2) patients who are transferred directly from an acute care hospital.

(e) The hospital must agree, in writing, to report to the commissioner of health by December 1, 1985, and annually thereafter, in a manner required by the commissioner (1) the number of patients readmitted to a swing bed within 60 days of a patient's discharge from the facility, (2) the hospital's charges for care in a swing bed during the reporting period with a description of the care provided for the rate charged, and (3) the number of beds used by the hospital for transitional care and similar subacute inpatient care.

(f) The hospital must agree, in writing, to report statistical data on the utilization of the swing beds on forms supplied by the commissioner. The data must include the number of swing beds, the number of admissions to and discharges from swing beds, Medicare reimbursed patient days, total patient days, and other information required by the commissioner to assess the utilization of swing beds.

Subd. 4. Issuance of license condition; renewals. The commissioner of health shall issue a license condition to a hospital that complies with subdivisions 2 and 3. The license condition must be granted when the license is first issued, when it is renewed, or during the hospital's licensure year. The condition is valid for the hospital's licensure year. The license condition can be renewed at the time of the hospital's license renewal if the hospital complies with subdivisions 2 and 3.

Subd. 5. Inspections. Notwithstanding section 144.55, subdivision 4, the commissioner of health may conduct inspections of a hospital granted a condition under this section to assess compliance with this section.

Subd. 6. Violations. Notwithstanding section 144.55, subdivision 4, if the hospital fails to comply with subdivision 2 or 3, the commissioner of health shall issue a correction order and penalty assessment under section 144.653 or may suspend, revoke, or refuse to renew the license condition under section 144.55, subdivision 6. The penalty assessment for a violation of subdivision 2 or 3 is $500.

Subd. 7. Effective date. Hospitals participating in the Medicare swing bed program on June 25, 1985 shall comply with this section by January 1, 1986, or at the time of the renewal of the Medicare swing bed approval, whichever is earlier.

HIST: 1Sp1985 c 3 s 3; 1986 c 420 s 1; 1989 c 282 art 2 s 9,10; 1995 c 207 art 7 s 7

Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes