PRINTER'S NO. 171
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No.
179
Session of
2017
INTRODUCED BY BARTOLOTTA, VOGEL, YAW, BREWSTER, RESCHENTHALER,
YUDICHAK, HAYWOOD, VULAKOVICH, SCHWANK, RAFFERTY, COSTA,
SCARNATI AND WARD, JANUARY 25, 2017
REFERRED TO HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, JANUARY 25, 2017
AN ACT
Amending the act of July 19, 1979 (P.L.130, No.48), entitled "An
act relating to health care; prescribing the powers and
duties of the Department of Health; establishing and
providing the powers and duties of the State Health
Coordinating Council, health systems agencies and Health Care
Policy Board in the Department of Health, and State Health
Facility Hearing Board in the Department of Justice;
providing for certification of need of health care providers
and prescribing penalties," in general provisions, providing
for acute care mental health bed registry and referrals.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. The act of July 19, 1979 (P.L.130, No.48), known
as the Health Care Facilities Act, is amended by adding a
section to read:
Section 901.1. Acute care mental health bed registry and
referrals.
(a) The department shall develop and administer an Internet
web-based acute care mental health bed registry to facilitate
the temporary hospitalization and treatment of individuals who
meet the criteria for inpatient examination and treatment under
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
Article II or III of the act of July 9, 1976 (P.L.817, No.143),
known as the "Mental Health Procedures Act." The department
shall make the registry available to health care professionals
and their designees who are treating patients in need of mental
health inpatient examination and treatment.
(b) The department shall design the registry to collect,
aggregate and display the information under subsection (c).
(c) The registry shall include all of the following
information:
(1) General descriptive information for each
participating facility, including contact information and the
type of treatment and services available at each
participating facility.
(2) Real-time information, updated at least daily, on
the number of acute care mental health beds available at the
participating facility.
(3) For each available acute care mental health bed at a
participating facility, the type of patient that may be
admitted.
(4) The level of security provided at each participating
facility.
(5) Any other information that may assist a health care
professional in identifying an appropriate acute care mental
health bed for an individual in need of inpatient examination
and treatment.
(d) The department shall design the registry to allow
health care professionals and their designees to search the
registry for an appropriate acute care mental health bed for an
individual in need of inpatient examination or treatment.
(e) In order to be eligible to access the registry, a
20170SB0179PN0171 - 2 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
facility must:
(1) submit information specified under subsection (c) to
the department for inclusion in the registry, including
providing daily real-time information under subsection (c);
and
(2) arrange for the facility's contact information to be
monitored and accessed at any time in accordance with the
department's regulations promulgated under subsection (h).
(f) The department may contract with a third party to
develop and administer the registry.
(g) The department shall publish a notice in the
Pennsylvania Bulletin providing for the date when the department
completed the development of the registry.
(h) The department shall promulgate regulations necessary to
implement this section.
(i) As used in this section, the following words and phrases
shall have the meanings given to them in this subsection:
"Acute care mental health bed." A bed located at a mental
health facility that provides acute care mental health services.
"Facility." A mental health facility.
"Health care professional." An individual licensed as a
physician, osteopath, physician assistant or certified
registered nurse practitioner.
"Mental health facility." A distinct part unit of a general
hospital licensed by the department under this act or a facility
that exclusively cares for the mentally ill and is licensed by
the Department of Human Services under the "Mental Health
Procedures Act" and Article X of the act of June 13, 1967
(P.L.31, No.21), known as the "Human Services Code," that
provides inpatient mental health examination and treatment. The
20170SB0179PN0171 - 3 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
term shall not include the emergency department of a general
hospital.
Section 2. This act shall take effect as follows:
(1) The following shall take effect immediately:
(i) The addition of section 901.1(g) of the act.
(ii) This section.
(2) The remainder of this act shall take effect 60 days
after the date of the publication of the notice under section
901.1(g) of the act.
20170SB0179PN0171 - 4 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9