INSPECTIONS
House Bill 5252
Sponsor: Rep. Paul DeWeese
Committee: Health Policy
Complete to 4-18-00
A SUMMARY OF HOUSE BILL 5252 AS INTRODUCED 2-1-00
Under provisions of the Public Health Code, hospitals must be surveyed and evaluated for licensure by the Department of Consumer and Industry Services every two years. Hospitals that have received accreditation by a national accreditation body such as the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) or the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) may request a waiver from the biennial inspections. However, the department cannot grant more than two consecutive waivers; therefore, each hospital must be inspected by the department at least once every six years.
House Bill 5252 would remove the restriction on how many waivers the department could grant before having to do an inspection. Therefore, under the bill, the department could continue to waive routine biennial inspections for nationally accreditated hospitals with acceptable compliance to state licensure standards. The bill would not prevent the department from conducting inspections or investigations following a complaint against a hospital, nor would it prohibit inspections for federal certification.
In addition, the code requires that investigations and inspections (other than inspections of financial records) of county medical care facilities, homes for the aged, nursing homes, and hospice residences be conducted without prior notice. The bill would specify that these inspections and investigations would be conducted by the Department of Consumer and Industry Services and a local health department.
MCL 333.20155
Analyst: S. Stutzky