The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, have
the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1) Act--Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 254,
titled Freestanding Emergency Medical Care Facilities.
(2) Action plan--A written document that includes specific
measures to correct identified problems or areas of concern; identifies
strategies for implementing system improvements; and includes outcome
measures to indicate the effectiveness of system improvements in reducing,
controlling, or eliminating identified problem areas.
(3) Administrator--A person who is a physician, is
a registered nurse, has a baccalaureate or postgraduate degree in
administration or a health-related field, or has one year of administrative
experience in a health-care setting.
(4) Advanced practice registered nurse (APRN)--A registered
nurse authorized by the Texas Board of Nursing to practice as an advanced
practice registered nurse in Texas. The term includes a nurse practitioner,
nurse midwife, nurse anesthetist, and clinical nurse specialist. The
term is synonymous with "advanced nurse practitioner."
(5) Adverse event--An event that results in unintended
harm to the patient by an act of commission or omission rather than
by the underlying disease or condition of the patient.
(6) Applicant--A person who seeks a freestanding emergency
medical care facility license from the Texas Health and Human Services
Commission (HHSC) and who is legally responsible for operation of
the freestanding emergency medical care facility, whether by lease
or ownership.
(7) Certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA)--A
registered nurse who has current certification from the Council on
Certification of Nurse Anesthetists and is currently authorized to
practice as an advanced practice registered nurse by the Texas Board
of Nursing.
(8) Change of ownership--Change in the person legally
responsible for operation of the facility, whether by lease or by
ownership.
(9) Designated provider--A provider of health care
services selected by a health maintenance organization, a self-insured
business corporation, a beneficial society, the Veterans Administration,
TRICARE, a business corporation, an employee organization, a county,
a public hospital, a hospital district, or any other entity to provide
health care services to a patient with whom the entity has a contractual,
statutory, or regulatory relationship that creates an obligation for
the entity to provide the services to the patient.
(10) Disposal--Discharge, deposit, injection, dumping,
spilling, leaking, or placing any solid waste or hazardous waste (containerized
or uncontainerized) into or on any land or water so that solid waste
or hazardous waste, or any constituent thereof, may enter the environment
or be emitted into the air or discharge into any waters, including
groundwaters.
(11) Emergency care--Health care services provided
in a freestanding emergency medical care facility to evaluate and
stabilize medical conditions of a recent onset and severity, including
severe pain, that would lead a prudent layperson possessing an average
knowledge of medicine and health to believe that the person's condition,
sickness, or injury is of such a nature that failure to get immediate
medical care could result in:
(A) placing the person's health in serious jeopardy;
(B) serious impairment to bodily functions;
(C) serious dysfunction of a bodily organ or part;
(D) serious disfigurement; or
(E) in the case of a pregnant woman, serious jeopardy
to the health of the woman or fetus.
(12) Facility--A freestanding emergency medical care
facility.
(13) Freestanding emergency medical care facility--A
facility that is structurally separate and distinct from a hospital
and which receives an individual and provides emergency care as defined
in this section.
(14) Freestanding emergency medical care facility administration--The
administrative body of a freestanding emergency medical care facility
headed by an individual who has the authority to represent the facility
and who is responsible for operation of the facility according to
the policies and procedures of the facility's governing body.
(15) Governing body--The governing authority of a freestanding
emergency medical care facility that is responsible for a facility's
organization, management, control, and operation, including appointment
of the medical staff; and includes the owner or partners for a freestanding
emergency medical care facility owned or operated by an individual
or partners or corporation.
(16) HHSC--Texas Health and Human Services Commission.
(17) Legally authorized representative (LAR)--Means:
(A) a parent or legal guardian if the patient is a
minor;
(B) a legal guardian if the patient has been adjudicated
incapacitated to manage the patient's personal affairs;
(C) an agent of the patient authorized under a medical
power of attorney;
(D) an attorney ad litem appointed for the patient;
(E) a person authorized to consent to medical treatment
on behalf of the patient under Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter
313;
(F) a guardian ad litem appointed for the patient;
(G) a personal representative or heir of the patient,
as defined by Texas Estates Code Chapter 22, if the patient is deceased;
(H) an attorney retained by the patient or by the patient's
legally authorized representative; or
(I) a person exercising a power granted to the person
in the person's capacity as an attorney-in-fact or agent of the patient
by a statutory durable power of attorney that is signed by the patient
as principal.
(18) Licensed vocational nurse (LVN)--A person who
is currently licensed by the Texas Board of Nursing as a licensed
vocational nurse.
(19) Licensee--The person or governmental unit named
in the application for issuance of a facility license.
(20) Medical director--A physician who is board certified
or board eligible in emergency medicine, or board certified in primary
care with a minimum of two years of emergency care experience.
(21) Medical staff--A physician or group of physicians,
podiatrist or group of podiatrists, and dentist or group of dentists
who by action of the governing body of a facility are privileged to
work in and use the facility.
(22) Owner--One of the following persons or governmental
unit that will hold, or does hold, a license issued under the Act
in the person's name or the person's assumed name:
(A) a corporation;
(B) a governmental unit;
(C) a limited liability company;
(D) an individual;
(E) a partnership, if a partnership name is stated
in a written partnership agreement, or an assumed name certificate;
(F) all partners in a partnership if a partnership
name is not stated in a written partnership agreement, or an assumed
name certificate; or
(G) all co-owners under any other business arrangement.
(23) Patient--An individual who presents for diagnosis
or treatment.
(24) Person--An individual, firm, partnership, corporation,
association, or joint stock company, including a receiver, trustee,
assignee, or other similar representative of such an entity.
(25) Physician--An individual licensed by the Texas
Medical Board and authorized to practice medicine in the state of
Texas.
(26) Physician assistant--An individual licensed as
a physician assistant by the Texas State Board of Physician Assistant
Examiners.
(27) Practitioner--A health care professional licensed
in the state of Texas, other than a physician, podiatrist, or dentist.
A practitioner shall practice in a manner consistent with their underlying
practice act.
(28) Prelicensure conference--A conference held between
HHSC staff and the applicant or the applicant's representative to
review licensure rules and survey documents and provide consultation
before the on-site licensure inspection.
(29) Premises--A building where patients receive emergency
services from a freestanding emergency medical care facility.
(30) Quality assessment and performance improvement
(QAPI)--An ongoing program that measures, analyzes, and tracks quality
indicators related to improving health outcomes and patient care emphasizing
a multidisciplinary approach. The program implements improvement plans
and evaluates the implementation until resolution is achieved.
(31) Registered nurse (RN)--An individual who is currently
licensed by the Texas Board of Nursing as a registered nurse.
Cont'd... |
