Bill Text: NJ S3449 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires publication of guide for licensure as integrated care facility; assigns DOH and DHS employees to communicate with facilities.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-02-11 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee [S3449 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-S3449-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator PATRICK J. DIEGNAN, JR.
District 18 (Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Requires publication of guide for licensure as integrated care facility; assigns DOH and DHS employees to communicate with facilities.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning integrated care and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. As used in this act:
"Integrated health care" means the systematic coordination of general and behavioral healthcare. This care may address mental illnesses, substance use disorders, health behaviors including their contributions to chronic medical illnesses, life stressors and crises, stress-related physical symptoms, and ineffective patterns of health care utilization.
"Primary care" means the practice of family medicine, general internal medicine, general pediatrics, general obstetrics, or gynecology.
b. The Department of Health and the Department of Human Services shall publish on the Internet websites of each department a guide for the following health care facilities under the jurisdiction of either department, including, but not limited to, federally qualified health centers, ambulatory care facilities, behavioral health care facilities, community mental health programs, and substance use disorder treatment facilities. The guide shall:
(1) detail the regulatory and statutory requirements and steps which are necessary for the health care facility to meet and take to be licensed to provide integrated health care;
(2) detail the regulatory and statutory requirements and steps which are necessary for a health care facility that practices primary care to meet and take to be licensed to provide behavioral health care, substance use disorder treatment, or both;
(3) list the contact information for the department employee who shall be assigned to communicate with facilities that have questions regarding the regulatory and statutory requirements which are detailed in the guide; and
(4) be displayed, structured, and written in a manner that is clear, concise, and understandable.
2. The Commissioners of Health and Human Services may adopt rules and regulations, in accordance with the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), as are necessary to effectuate the provisions of this act.
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the publication of a guide for licensure as an integrated care facility.
Under the bill, the Department of Health and the Department of Human Services are to publish on the Internet websites of each department a guide for health care facilities under the jurisdiction of either department, including, but not limited to, federally qualified health centers, ambulatory care facilities, behavioral health care facilities, community mental health programs, and substance use disorder treatment facilities. The guide is to:
(1) detail the regulatory and statutory requirements and steps which are necessary for the health care facility to meet and take to be licensed to provide integrated health care;
(2) detail the regulatory and statutory requirements and steps which are necessary for a health care facility that practices primary care to meet and take to be licensed to provide behavioral health care, substance use disorder treatment, or both;
(3) list the contact information for the department employee who is to be assigned to communicate with facilities that have questions regarding the regulatory and statutory requirements which are detailed in the guide; and
(4) be displayed, structured, and written in a manner that is clear, concise, and understandable.
The bill defines "integrated health care" to mean the systematic coordination of general and behavioral healthcare. This care may address mental illnesses, substance use disorders, health behaviors including their contributions to chronic medical illnesses, life stressors and crises, stress-related physical symptoms, and ineffective patterns of health care utilization.
