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TITLE 25HEALTH SERVICES
PART 1DEPARTMENT OF STATE HEALTH SERVICES
CHAPTER 133HOSPITAL LICENSING
SUBCHAPTER AGENERAL PROVISIONS
RULE §133.2Definitions

The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

  (1) Act--The Texas Hospital Licensing Law, Health and Safety Code (HSC), Chapter 241.

  (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) Advanced practice registered nurse (APRN)--A registered nurse who is currently licensed and authorized by the Texas Board of Nursing to practice as a nurse practitioner, nurse-midwife, nurse anesthetist, or clinical nurse specialist.

  (4) 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.

  (5) Applicant--The person legally responsible for the operation of the hospital, whether by lease or ownership, who seeks a hospital license from the department.

  (6) Attending physician--A physician selected by or assigned to a patient who has primary responsibility for a patient's treatment and care.

  (7) Available--When referring to on-site personnel, on the premises and able to rapidly perform hands-on care in an emergency situation.

  (8) Cardiopulmonary resuscitation--Any medical intervention used to restore circulatory or respiratory function that has ceased.

  (9) Chemical dependency services--A planned, structured, and organized program designed to initiate and promote a person's chemical-free status or to maintain the person free of illegal drugs. It includes, but is not limited to, the application of planned procedures to identify and change patterns of behavior related to or resulting from chemical dependency that are maladaptive, destructive, or injurious to health, or to restore appropriate levels of physical, psychological, or social functioning lost due to chemical dependency.

  (10) Competent--Possessing the ability, based on reasonable medical judgment, to understand and appreciate the nature and consequences of a treatment decision, including the significant benefits and harms of and reasonable alternatives to a proposed treatment decision.

  (11) Comprehensive medical rehabilitation--The provision of rehabilitation services that are designed to improve or minimize a person's physical or cognitive disabilities, maximize a person's functional ability, or restore a person's lost functional capacity through close coordination of services, communication, interaction, and integration among several professions that share responsibility to achieve team treatment goals for the person.

  (12) Comprehensive medical rehabilitation hospital--A general hospital that specializes in providing comprehensive medical rehabilitation services, including surgery and related ancillary services.

  (13) Comprehensive medical rehabilitation unit--An identifiable part of a hospital which provides comprehensive medical rehabilitation services to patients admitted to the unit.

  (14) Cooperative agreement--An agreement among two or more hospitals for the allocation or sharing of health care equipment, facilities, personnel, or services.

  (15) Dentist--A person licensed to practice dentistry by the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners. This includes a doctor of dental surgery or a doctor of dental medicine.

  (16) Department--The Department of State Health Services, 1100 West 49th Street, Austin, Texas 78756-3199.

  (17) Dietitian--A person who is currently licensed by the Texas State Board of Examiners of Dietitians as a licensed dietitian or provisional licensed dietitian, or who is a registered dietitian with the American Dietetic Association.

  (18) Director--The hospital licensing director, Department of State Health Services.

  (19) Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order--An order issued in a hospital under Health and Safety Code, Chapter 166, Subchapter E (relating to Health Care Facility Do-Not-Resuscitate Orders), instructing a health care professional not to attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation on a patient whose circulatory or respiratory function ceases.

  (20) Emergency medical condition--A medical condition manifesting itself by acute symptoms of sufficient severity (including severe pain, psychiatric disturbances or symptoms of substance abuse) such that the absence of immediate medical attention could reasonably be expected to result in one or all of the following:

    (A) placing the health of the individual (or with respect to a pregnant woman, the health of the woman or her unborn child) in serious jeopardy;

    (B) serious impairment to bodily functions;

    (C) serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part; or

    (D) with respect to a pregnant woman who is having contractions:

      (i) that there is inadequate time to effect a safe transfer to another hospital before delivery; or

      (ii) that transfer may pose a threat to the health or safety of the woman or the unborn child.

  (21) Freestanding emergency medical care facility--A facility that is structurally separate and distinct from a hospital and receives individuals for the provision of emergency care. The facility is owned and operated by the hospital, and is exempt from the licensing requirements of Texas Health and Safety Code, Chapter 254, under §254.052(7) or (8).

  (22) General hospital--An establishment that:

    (A) offers services, facilities, and beds for use for more than 24 hours for two or more unrelated individuals requiring diagnosis, treatment, or care for illness, injury, deformity, abnormality, or pregnancy; and

    (B) regularly maintains, at a minimum, clinical laboratory services, diagnostic X-ray services, treatment facilities including surgery or obstetrical care or both, and other definitive medical or surgical treatment of similar extent.

  (23) Governing body--The governing authority of a hospital which is responsible for a hospital's organization, management, control, and operation, including appointment of the medical staff; includes the owner or partners for hospitals owned or operated by an individual or partners.

  (24) Governmental unit--A political subdivision of the state, including a hospital district, county, or municipality, and any department, division, board, or other agency of a political subdivision.

  (25) Hospital--A general hospital or a special hospital.

  (26) Hospital administration--Administrative body of a hospital headed by an individual who has the authority to represent the hospital and who is responsible for the operation of the hospital according to the policies and procedures of the hospital's governing body.

  (27) Incompetent--Lacking the ability, based on reasonable medical judgment, to understand and appreciate the nature and consequences of a treatment decision, including the significant benefits and harms of and reasonable alternatives to a proposed treatment decision.

  (28) Inpatient--An individual admitted for an intended length of stay of 24 hours or greater.

  (29) Inpatient services--Services provided to an individual admitted to a hospital for an intended length of stay of 24 hours or greater.

  (30) Intellectual Disability--Significantly sub-average general intellectual functioning that is concurrent with deficits in adaptive behavior and originates during the developmental period.

  (31) Licensed vocational nurse (LVN)--A person who is currently licensed under the Nursing Practice Act by the Texas Board of Nursing for the State of Texas as a licensed vocational nurse or who holds a valid vocational nursing license with multi-state licensure privilege from another compact state.

  (32) Licensee--The person or governmental unit named in the application for issuance of a hospital license.

  (33) Medical staff--A physician or group of physicians and a podiatrist or group of podiatrists who by action of the governing body of a hospital are privileged to work in and use the facilities of a hospital for or in connection with the observation, care, diagnosis, or treatment of an individual who is, or may be, suffering from a mental or physical disease or disorder or a physical deformity or injury.

  (34) Mental health services--All services concerned with research, prevention, and detection of mental disorders and disabilities and all services necessary to treat, care for, supervise, and rehabilitate persons who have a mental disorder or disability, including persons whose mental disorders or disabilities result from alcoholism or drug addiction.

  (35) Niche hospital--A hospital that:

Cont'd...

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