| (a) A hospital shall comply with the disclosure and
reporting requirements of Texas Health and Safety Code (HSC) Chapter
327 (relating to Disclosure of Prices) as described in this section.
(b) In this section, "prominent location" or "prominently
displayed" means a size and font at least as large as that of surrounding
text, links, or buttons, distinct from the background of the website,
immediately viewable upon accessing the home page of the hospital's
publicly accessible website without having to scroll.
(c) A hospital shall make the information required
by HSC Chapter 327 available in a prominent location on the home page
of its publicly accessible website or accessible by selecting a dedicated
link that is prominently displayed on the home page of its publicly
accessible website. If the facility operates multiple locations and
maintains a single website, the homepage must contain a link to the
list containing the links to each location the facility operates in
a manner that clearly associates the list with the applicable location
of the facility.
(d) Each time a hospital updates a list as required
by HSC §327.003 and §327.004, it shall submit the updated
list to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) in the
manner specified by HHSC on its website.
(e) HHSC has jurisdiction to impose an administrative
penalty against a hospital licensed under this chapter for violations
of HSC Chapter 327 and this section. An administrative penalty imposed
under this section shall be in accordance with the provisions of HSC §327.008.
(f) In determining the amount of any penalty sought
pursuant to HSC §327.008, HHSC shall consider:
(1) previous violations by the hospital's operator;
(2) the seriousness of the violation;
(3) the demonstrated good faith of the hospital's operator;
and
(4) any other matters that justice may require.
(g) For purposes of calculating any penalty sought
pursuant to HSC §327.008, the penalty imposed by HHSC for a hospital
with one of the following total gross revenues, as reported to the
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, in the year preceding
the year in which a penalty is imposed, may not exceed:
(1) $10 for each day the hospital violated HSC Chapter
327, if the hospital's total gross revenue is less than $10,000,000;
(2) $100 for each day the hospital violated HSC Chapter
327, if the hospital's total gross revenue is $10,000,000 or more
and less than $100,000,000; and
(3) $1,000 for each day the hospital violated HSC Chapter
327, if the hospital's total gross revenue is $100,000,000 or more.
(h) Each day a violation continues is considered a
separate violation.
(1) The administrative penalties for each day of a
continuing violation cease on the date the violation is corrected.
A violation that is the subject of a penalty is presumed to continue
on each successive day until it is corrected. The date of correction
alleged by the hospital in its written plan of correction or corrective
action plan will be presumed to be the actual date of correction,
unless HHSC later determines that the correction was not made by that
date or was not satisfactory.
(2) For continuing violations pursuant to HSC Chapter
327, penalties are cumulative as demonstrated in Figure: 25 TAC §133.53(h)(2).
The penalty amount is multiplied by the number of days the violation
continues. The penalty amount for each day of the continuing violation
is then added to the running total of the previous day's penalties
according to the formula in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph.
Attached Graphic
(A) Cumulative administrative penalty = [penalty for
each day of violation + (penalty for each day of violation x number
of days of violation)]/2 x (number of days of violation).
(B) The cumulative amounts are not subject to the per
day penalty cap in subsection (g) of this section.
|
