HOUSE BILL No. 5577

 

December 13, 2007, Introduced by Rep. Wojno and referred to the Committee on Health Policy.

 

     A bill to amend 1978 PA 368, entitled

 

"Public health code,"

 

by amending sections 13805, 18701, 18711, 20173a, and 21401 (MCL

 

333.13805, 333.18701, 333.18711, 333.20173a, and 333.21401),

 

section 13805 as added by 1990 PA 21, sections 18701 and 18711 as

 

added by 2004 PA 3, section 20173a as added by 2006 PA 28, and

 

section 21401 as amended by 1996 PA 267, and by adding section

 

1104a.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 1104a. (1) "Home health agency" means a home health

 

agency as defined in section 1861(o) of the social security act, 42

 

USC 1395x, which home health agency has met the medicare conditions

 

of participation as prescribed in section 1891(a) of the social

 


security act, 42 USC 1395bbb, or is certified by this state as a

 

home health agency pursuant to an agreement described in section

 

1864 of the social security act, 42 USC 1395aa.

 

     (2) "Home medical equipment" or "durable medical equipment"

 

means equipment that is appropriate for use in the home, is

 

primarily and customarily used to serve a medical purpose, is not

 

useful to a person in the absence of illness or injury, can stand

 

repeated use, and is 1 or more of the following:

 

     (a) Life-sustaining equipment prescribed by a licensed health

 

professional that mechanically sustains, restores, or supplants a

 

vital bodily function, including, but not limited to, breathing.

 

     (b) Technologically sophisticated medical equipment prescribed

 

by a licensed health professional that requires individualized

 

adjustment or regular maintenance by a home medical equipment

 

services provider to manage a consumer’s health care condition or

 

maintain the effectiveness of the equipment.

 

     (c) An item specified by the department or appropriate board

 

in rules promulgated under this act.

 

     (3) "Home medical equipment services" means the sale,

 

delivery, installation, maintenance, replacement, or demonstration

 

of home medical equipment.

 

     (4) "Home medical equipment services provider" means a person

 

engaged in offering home medical equipment services to consumers in

 

this state.

 

     (5) "Home services" means any of the following services that

 

are performed by or through a hospice, home services agency, or

 

home health agency to protect and maintain a consumer in his or her

 


personal residence or other independent living environment:

 

     (a) Assistance with routine activities of daily living,

 

including eating, bathing, dressing, toileting, transferring, and

 

continence.

 

     (b) Assistance with instrumental activities of daily living,

 

which activities are related to independent living and include

 

preparing meals, managing money, shopping for groceries or personal

 

items, performing light or heavy housework, and using a telephone.

 

     (c) Companionship services.

 

     (d) Private duty nursing.

 

     (e) Therapy services, including physical therapy, occupational

 

therapy, speech pathology, and audiology.

 

     (f) Specialized care on an hourly, shift, or continual basis.

 

     (g) Other health-related services, including social work and

 

nutritional assistance.

 

     (6) "Home services agency" means a public or private

 

organization that supplies, arranges for, refers, or schedules

 

employees or provides for independent contractors to provide home

 

services to a consumer in his or her personal residence or other

 

independent living environment for which the organization receives

 

a fee, consideration, or compensation of any kind. Home services

 

agency does not include a hospice, home health agency, or volunteer

 

provider of home services.

 

     Sec. 13805. (1) "Advisory council" means the interdepartmental

 

medical waste advisory council created in section 13827.

 

     (2) "Autoclave" means to sterilize using superheated steam

 

under pressure.

 


     (3) "Decontamination" means rendering medical waste safe for

 

routine handling as solid waste.

 

     (4) "Fund" means the medical waste emergency response fund

 

created in section 13829.

 

     (5) "Health facility or agency" means that term as defined in

 

section 20106.

 

     (6) "Household" means a single detached dwelling unit or a

 

single unit of a multiple dwelling.

 

     (7) "Infectious agent" means a pathogen that is sufficiently

 

virulent so that if a susceptible host is exposed to the pathogen

 

in an adequate concentration and through a portal of entry, the

 

result could be transmission of disease to a human.

 

     (8) "Medical waste" means any of the following that are not

 

generated from a household, a farm operation or other agricultural

 

business, a home for the aged, a home services agency, or a home

 

health care agency:

 

     (a) Cultures and stocks of infectious agents and associated

 

biologicals, including laboratory waste, biological production

 

wastes, discarded live and attenuated vaccines, culture dishes, and

 

related devices.

 

     (b) Liquid human and animal waste, including blood and blood

 

products and body fluids, but not including urine or materials

 

stained with blood or body fluids.

 

     (c) Pathological waste.

 

     (d) Sharps.

 

     (e) Contaminated wastes from animals that have been exposed to

 

agents infectious to humans, these being primarily research

 


animals.

 

     Sec. 18701. (1) As used in this part:

 

     (a) "Health facility" means a health facility or agency

 

licensed under article 17.

 

     (b) "Medical director" means a physician who is responsible

 

for the quality, safety, appropriateness, and effectiveness of the

 

respiratory care services provided by a respiratory therapist, who

 

assists in quality monitoring, protocol development, and competency

 

validation, and who meets all of the following:

 

     (i) Is the medical director of an inpatient or outpatient

 

respiratory care service or department within a health facility, or

 

of a home care health agency, home services agency, durable home

 

medical equipment company services provider, or educational

 

program.

 

     (ii) Has special interest and knowledge in the diagnosis and

 

treatment of cardiopulmonary disorders and diseases.

 

     (iii) Is qualified by training or experience, or both, in the

 

management of acute and chronic cardiopulmonary disorders and

 

diseases.

 

     (c) "Physician" means that term as defined in sections 17001

 

and 17501.

 

     (d) "Practice of respiratory care" means the provision of

 

respiratory care services. Practice of respiratory care may be

 

provided by an inpatient or outpatient service or department within

 

a health facility, by a home care health agency, home services

 

agency, or durable home medical equipment company services

 

provider, or by an educational program.

 


     (e) "Respiratory care services" means preventative services,

 

diagnostic services, therapeutic services, and rehabilitative

 

services under the written, verbal, or telecommunicated order of a

 

physician to an individual with a disorder, disease, or abnormality

 

of the cardiopulmonary system as diagnosed by a physician.

 

Respiratory care services involve, but are not limited to,

 

observing, assessing, and monitoring signs and symptoms, reactions,

 

general behavior, and general physical response of individuals to

 

respiratory care services, including determination of whether those

 

signs, symptoms, reactions, behaviors, or general physical response

 

exhibit abnormal characteristics; the administration of

 

pharmacological, diagnostic, and therapeutic agents related to

 

respiratory care services; the collection of blood specimens and

 

other bodily fluids and tissues for, and the performance of,

 

cardiopulmonary diagnostic testing procedures including, but not

 

limited to, blood gas analysis; development, implementation, and

 

modification of respiratory care treatment plans based on assessed

 

abnormalities of the cardiopulmonary system, respiratory care

 

protocols, clinical pathways, referrals, and written, verbal, or

 

telecommunicated orders of a physician; application, operation, and

 

management of mechanical ventilatory support and other means of

 

life support; and the initiation of emergency procedures under the

 

rules promulgated by the board.

 

     (f) "Respiratory therapist" and "respiratory care

 

practitioner" mean an individual engaged in the practice of

 

respiratory care and who is responsible for providing respiratory

 

care services and who is licensed under this article as a

 


respiratory therapist or respiratory care practitioner.

 

     (2) In addition to the definitions in this part, article 1

 

contains general definitions and principles of construction

 

applicable to all articles in this code and part 161 contains

 

definitions applicable to this part.

 

     Sec. 18711. (1) The department may issue a temporary license

 

as a respiratory therapist to an applicant who does not meet all of

 

the requirements of section 18709, if the applicant does all of the

 

following:

 

     (a) Applies to the department for a temporary license within 1

 

year after the effective date of the amendatory act that added this

 

part July 1, 2004.

 

     (b) Provides satisfactory proof to the department that he or

 

she has been employed full-time as a respiratory therapist for the

 

4 years immediately preceding the date of application in 1 of the

 

following:

 

     (i) An inpatient or outpatient respiratory care service or

 

department within a licensed health facility.

 

     (ii) A durable home medical equipment company services

 

provider, home services agency, or home care health agency.

 

     (iii) A respiratory care educational program.

 

     (c) Provides the department with a letter of recommendation

 

from his or her medical director at the time of application

 

attesting to the applicant's clinical competence as a respiratory

 

therapist.

 

     (d) Pays the applicable fees prescribed by section 16344.

 

     (2) A temporary license issued by the department under this

 


section expires within the same time period as a nontemporary

 

license issued by the department under this part. The holder of a

 

temporary license issued under this section may apply for 1 or more

 

renewals of the temporary license a number of times, but an

 

individual may not hold a temporary license for more than a total

 

of 4 years.

 

     (3) The holder of a temporary license issued under this

 

section is subject to this part and the rules promulgated under

 

this part, except for the requirements for licensure.

 

     Sec. 20173a. (1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection

 

(2), a health facility or agency that is a nursing home, county

 

medical care facility, hospice, hospital that provides swing bed

 

services, home for the aged, home services agency, or home health

 

agency shall not employ, independently contract with, or grant

 

clinical privileges to an individual who regularly has direct

 

access to or provides direct services to patients or residents in

 

the health facility or agency after the effective date of this

 

section April 1, 2006 if the individual satisfies 1 or more of the

 

following:

 

     (a) Has been convicted of a relevant crime described under 42

 

USC 1320a-7.

 

     (b) Has been convicted of any of the following felonies, an

 

attempt or conspiracy to commit any of those felonies, or any other

 

state or federal crime that is similar to the felonies described in

 

this subdivision, other than a felony for a relevant crime

 

described under 42 USC 1320a-7, unless 15 years have lapsed since

 

the individual completed all of the terms and conditions of his or

 


her sentencing, parole, and probation for that conviction prior to

 

the date of application for employment or clinical privileges or

 

the date of the execution of the independent contract:

 

     (i) A felony that involves the intent to cause death or serious

 

impairment of a body function, that results in death or serious

 

impairment of a body function, that involves the use of force or

 

violence, or that involves the threat of the use of force or

 

violence.

 

     (ii) A felony involving cruelty or torture.

 

     (iii) A felony under chapter XXA of the Michigan penal code,

 

1931 PA 328, MCL 750.145m to 750.145r.

 

     (iv) A felony involving criminal sexual conduct.

 

     (v) A felony involving abuse or neglect.

 

     (vi) A felony involving the use of a firearm or dangerous

 

weapon.

 

     (vii) A felony involving the diversion or adulteration of a

 

prescription drug or other medications.

 

     (c) Has been convicted of a felony or an attempt or conspiracy

 

to commit a felony, other than a felony for a relevant crime

 

described under 42 USC 1320a-7 or a felony described under

 

subdivision (b), unless 10 years have lapsed since the individual

 

completed all of the terms and conditions of his or her sentencing,

 

parole, and probation for that conviction prior to the date of

 

application for employment or clinical privileges or the date of

 

the execution of the independent contract.

 

     (d) Has been convicted of any of the following misdemeanors,

 

other than a misdemeanor for a relevant crime described under 42

 


USC 1320a-7, or a state or federal crime that is substantially

 

similar to the misdemeanors described in this subdivision, within

 

the 10 years immediately preceding the date of application for

 

employment or clinical privileges or the date of the execution of

 

the independent contract:

 

     (i) A misdemeanor involving the use of a firearm or dangerous

 

weapon with the intent to injure, the use of a firearm or dangerous

 

weapon that results in a personal injury, or a misdemeanor

 

involving the use of force or violence or the threat of the use of

 

force or violence.

 

     (ii) A misdemeanor under chapter XXA of the Michigan penal

 

code, 1931 PA 328, MCL 750.145m to 750.145r.

 

     (iii) A misdemeanor involving criminal sexual conduct.

 

     (iv) A misdemeanor involving cruelty or torture unless

 

otherwise provided under subdivision (e).

 

     (v) A misdemeanor involving abuse or neglect.

 

     (e) Has been convicted of any of the following misdemeanors,

 

other than a misdemeanor for a relevant crime described under 42

 

USC 1320a-7, or a state or federal crime that is substantially

 

similar to the misdemeanors described in this subdivision, within

 

the 5 years immediately preceding the date of application for

 

employment or clinical privileges or the date of the execution of

 

the independent contract:

 

     (i) A misdemeanor involving cruelty if committed by an

 

individual who is less than 16 years of age.

 

     (ii) A misdemeanor involving home invasion.

 

     (iii) A misdemeanor involving embezzlement.

 


     (iv) A misdemeanor involving negligent homicide.

 

     (v) A misdemeanor involving larceny unless otherwise provided

 

under subdivision (g).

 

     (vi) A misdemeanor of retail fraud in the second degree unless

 

otherwise provided under subdivision (g).

 

     (vii) Any other misdemeanor involving assault, fraud, theft, or

 

the possession or delivery of a controlled substance unless

 

otherwise provided under subdivision (d), (f), or (g).

 

     (f) Has been convicted of any of the following misdemeanors,

 

other than a misdemeanor for a relevant crime described under 42

 

USC 1320a-7, or a state or federal crime that is substantially

 

similar to the misdemeanors described in this subdivision, within

 

the 3 years immediately preceding the date of application for

 

employment or clinical privileges or the date of the execution of

 

the independent contract:

 

     (i) A misdemeanor for assault if there was no use of a firearm

 

or dangerous weapon and no intent to commit murder or inflict great

 

bodily injury.

 

     (ii) A misdemeanor of retail fraud in the third degree unless

 

otherwise provided under subdivision (g).

 

     (iii) A misdemeanor under part 74 unless otherwise provided

 

under subdivision (g).

 

     (g) Has been convicted of any of the following misdemeanors,

 

other than a misdemeanor for a relevant crime described under 42

 

USC 1320a-7, or a state or federal crime that is substantially

 

similar to the misdemeanors described in this subdivision, within

 

the year immediately preceding the date of application for

 


employment or clinical privileges or the date of the execution of

 

the independent contract:

 

     (i) A misdemeanor under part 74 if the individual, at the time

 

of conviction, is under the age of 18.

 

     (ii) A misdemeanor for larceny or retail fraud in the second or

 

third degree if the individual, at the time of conviction, is under

 

the age of 16.

 

     (h) Is the subject of an order or disposition under section

 

16b of chapter IX of the code of criminal procedure, 1927 PA 175,

 

MCL 769.16b.

 

     (i) Has been the subject of a substantiated finding of

 

neglect, abuse, or misappropriation of property by a state or

 

federal agency pursuant to an investigation conducted in accordance

 

with 42 USC 1395i-3 or 1396r.

 

     (2) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (5), a health

 

facility or agency that is a nursing home, county medical care

 

facility, hospice, hospital that provides swing bed services, home

 

for the aged, home services agency, or home health agency shall not

 

employ, independently contract with, or grant privileges to an

 

individual who regularly has direct access to or provides direct

 

services to patients or residents in the health facility or agency

 

after the effective date of this section April 1, 2006 until the

 

health facility or agency conducts a criminal history check in

 

compliance with subsection (4). This subsection and subsection (1)

 

do not apply to any of the following:

 

     (a) An individual who is employed by, under independent

 

contract to, or granted clinical privileges in a health facility or

 


agency before the effective date of this section April 1, 2006.

 

Within 24 months after the effective date of this section April 1,

 

2006, an individual who is exempt under this subdivision shall

 

provide the department of state police with a set of fingerprints

 

and the department of state police shall input those fingerprints

 

into the automated fingerprint identification system database

 

established under subsection (12). An individual who is exempt

 

under this subdivision is not limited to working within the health

 

facility or agency with which he or she is employed by, under

 

independent contract to, or granted clinical privileges on the

 

effective date of this section April 1, 2006. That individual may

 

transfer to another health facility or agency that is under the

 

same ownership with which he or she was employed, under contract,

 

or granted privileges. If that individual wishes to transfer to

 

another health facility or agency that is not under the same

 

ownership, he or she may do so provided that a criminal history

 

check is conducted by the new health facility or agency in

 

accordance with subsection (4). If an individual who is exempt

 

under this subdivision is subsequently convicted of a crime

 

described under subsection (1)(a) through (g) or found to be the

 

subject of a substantiated finding described under subsection

 

(1)(i) or an order or disposition described under subsection

 

(1)(h), or is found to have been convicted of a relevant crime

 

described under subsection (1)(a), then he or she is no longer

 

exempt and shall be terminated from employment or denied

 

employment.

 

     (b) An individual who is an independent contractor with a

 


health facility or agency that is a nursing home, county medical

 

care facility, hospice, hospital that provides swing bed services,

 

home for the aged, home services agency, or home health agency if

 

the services for which he or she is contracted is not directly

 

related to the provision of services to a patient or resident or if

 

the services for which he or she is contracted allows for direct

 

access to the patients or residents but is not performed on an

 

ongoing basis. This exception includes, but is not limited to, an

 

individual who independently contracts with the health facility or

 

agency to provide utility, maintenance, construction, or

 

communications services.

 

     (3) An individual who applies for employment either as an

 

employee or as an independent contractor or for clinical privileges

 

with a health facility or agency that is a nursing home, county

 

medical care facility, hospice, hospital that provides swing bed

 

services, home for the aged, home services agency, or home health

 

agency and has received a good faith offer of employment, an

 

independent contract, or clinical privileges from the health

 

facility or agency shall give written consent at the time of

 

application for the department of state police to conduct an

 

initial criminal history check under this section, along with

 

identification acceptable to the department of state police.

 

     (4) Upon receipt of the written consent and identification

 

required under subsection (3), a health facility or agency that is

 

a nursing home, county medical care facility, hospice, hospital

 

that provides swing bed services, home for the aged, home services

 

agency, or home health agency that has made a good faith offer of

 


employment or an independent contract or clinical privileges to the

 

applicant shall make a request to the department of state police to

 

conduct a criminal history check on the applicant, to input the

 

applicant's fingerprints into the automated fingerprint

 

identification system database, and to forward the applicant's

 

fingerprints to the federal bureau of investigation. The department

 

of state police shall request the federal bureau of investigation

 

to make a determination of the existence of any national criminal

 

history pertaining to the applicant. The applicant shall provide

 

the department of state police with a set of fingerprints. The

 

request shall be made in a manner prescribed by the department of

 

state police. The health facility or agency shall make the written

 

consent and identification available to the department of state

 

police. The health facility or agency shall make a request to the

 

relevant licensing or regulatory department to conduct a check of

 

all relevant registries established pursuant to federal and state

 

law and regulations for any substantiated findings of abuse,

 

neglect, or misappropriation of property. If the department of

 

state police or the federal bureau of investigation charges a fee

 

for conducting the initial criminal history check, the charge shall

 

be paid by or reimbursed by the department with federal funds as

 

provided to implement a pilot program for national and state

 

background checks on direct patient access employees of long-term

 

care facilities or providers in accordance with section 307 of the

 

medicare prescription drug, improvement, and modernization act of

 

2003, Public Law 108-173. The health facility or agency shall not

 

seek reimbursement for a charge imposed by the department of state

 


police or the federal bureau of investigation from the individual

 

who is the subject of the initial criminal history check. A health

 

facility or agency, a prospective employee, or a prospective

 

independent contractor covered under this section may not be

 

charged for the cost of an initial criminal history check required

 

under this section. The department of state police shall conduct a

 

criminal history check on the applicant named in the request. The

 

department of state police shall provide the department with a

 

written report of the criminal history check conducted under this

 

subsection if the criminal history check contains any criminal

 

history record information. The report shall contain any criminal

 

history record information on the applicant maintained by the

 

department of state police. The department of state police shall

 

provide the results of the federal bureau of investigation

 

determination to the department within 30 days after the request is

 

made. If the requesting health facility or agency is not a state

 

department or agency and if a criminal conviction is disclosed on

 

the written report of the criminal history check or the federal

 

bureau of investigation determination, the department shall notify

 

the health facility or agency and the applicant in writing of the

 

type of crime disclosed on the written report of the criminal

 

history check or the federal bureau of investigation determination

 

without disclosing the details of the crime. Any charges imposed by

 

the department of state police or the federal bureau of

 

investigation for conducting an initial criminal history check or

 

making a determination under this subsection shall be paid in the

 

manner required under this subsection. The notice shall include a

 


statement that the applicant has a right to appeal a decision made

 

by the health facility or agency regarding his or her employment

 

eligibility based on the criminal background check. The notice

 

shall also include information regarding where to file and

 

describing the appellate procedures established under section

 

20173b.

 

     (5) If a health facility or agency that is a nursing home,

 

county medical care facility, hospice, hospital that provides swing

 

bed services, home for the aged, home services agency, or home

 

health agency determines it necessary to employ or grant clinical

 

privileges to an applicant before receiving the results of the

 

applicant's criminal history check under this section, the health

 

facility or agency may conditionally employ or grant conditional

 

clinical privileges to the individual if all of the following

 

apply:

 

     (a) The health facility or agency requests the criminal

 

history check under this section upon conditionally employing or

 

conditionally granting clinical privileges to the individual.

 

     (b) The individual signs a statement in writing that indicates

 

all of the following:

 

     (i) That he or she has not been convicted of 1 or more of the

 

crimes that are described in subsection (1)(a) through (g) within

 

the applicable time period prescribed by each subdivision

 

respectively.

 

     (ii) That he or she is not the subject of an order or

 

disposition described in subsection (1)(h).

 

     (iii) That he or she has not been the subject of a substantiated

 


finding as described in subsection (1)(i).

 

     (iv) The individual agrees that, if the information in the

 

criminal history check conducted under this section does not

 

confirm the individual's statements under subparagraphs (i) through

 

(iii), his or her employment or clinical privileges will be

 

terminated by the health facility or agency as required under

 

subsection (1) unless and until the individual appeals and can

 

prove that the information is incorrect.

 

     (v) That he or she understands the conditions described in

 

subparagraphs (i) through (iv) that result in the termination of his

 

or her employment or clinical privileges and that those conditions

 

are good cause for termination.

 

     (6) The department shall develop and distribute a model form

 

for the statement required under subsection (5)(b). The department

 

shall make the model form available to health facilities or

 

agencies subject to this section upon request at no charge.

 

     (7) If an individual is employed as a conditional employee or

 

is granted conditional clinical privileges under subsection (5),

 

and the report described in subsection (4) does not confirm the

 

individual's statement under subsection (5)(b)(i) through (iii), the

 

health facility or agency shall terminate the individual's

 

employment or clinical privileges as required by subsection (1).

 

     (8) An individual who knowingly provides false information

 

regarding his or her identity, criminal convictions, or

 

substantiated findings on a statement described in subsection

 

(5)(b)(i) through (iii) is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by

 

imprisonment for not more than 93 days or a fine of not more than

 


$500.00, or both.

 

     (9) A health facility or agency that is a nursing home, county

 

medical care facility, hospice, hospital that provides swing bed

 

services, home for the aged, home services agency, or home health

 

agency shall use criminal history record information obtained under

 

subsection (4) only for the purpose of evaluating an applicant's

 

qualifications for employment, an independent contract, or clinical

 

privileges in the position for which he or she has applied and for

 

the purposes of subsections (5) and (7). A health facility or

 

agency or an employee of the health facility or agency shall not

 

disclose criminal history record information obtained under

 

subsection (4) to a person who is not directly involved in

 

evaluating the applicant's qualifications for employment, an

 

independent contract, or clinical privileges. An individual who

 

knowingly uses or disseminates the criminal history record

 

information obtained under subsection (4) in violation of this

 

subsection is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment

 

for not more than 93 days or a fine of not more than $1,000.00, or

 

both. Upon written request from another health facility or agency,

 

psychiatric facility or intermediate care facility for people with

 

mental retardation, or adult foster care facility that is

 

considering employing, independently contracting with, or granting

 

clinical privileges to an individual, a health facility or agency

 

that has obtained criminal history record information under this

 

section on that individual shall, with the consent of the

 

applicant, share the information with the requesting health

 

facility or agency, psychiatric facility or intermediate care

 


facility for people with mental retardation, or adult foster care

 

facility. Except for a knowing or intentional release of false

 

information, a health facility or agency has no liability in

 

connection with a criminal background check conducted under this

 

section or the release of criminal history record information under

 

this subsection.

 

     (10) As a condition of continued employment, each employee,

 

independent contractor, or individual granted clinical privileges

 

shall do each of the following:

 

     (a) Agree in writing to report to the health facility or

 

agency immediately upon being arraigned for 1 or more of the

 

criminal offenses listed in subsection (1)(a) through (g), upon

 

being convicted of 1 or more of the criminal offenses listed in

 

subsection (1)(a) through (g), upon becoming the subject of an

 

order or disposition described under subsection (1)(h), and upon

 

being the subject of a substantiated finding of neglect, abuse, or

 

misappropriation of property as described in subsection (1)(i).

 

Reporting of an arraignment under this subdivision is not cause for

 

termination or denial of employment.

 

     (b) If a set of fingerprints is not already on file with the

 

department of state police, provide the department of state police

 

with a set of fingerprints.

 

     (11) In addition to sanctions set forth in section 20165, a

 

licensee, owner, administrator, or operator of a nursing home,

 

county medical care facility, hospice, hospital that provides swing

 

bed services, home for the aged, home services agency, or home

 

health agency who knowingly and willfully fails to conduct the

 


criminal history checks as required under this section is guilty of

 

a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than 1 year

 

or a fine of not more than $5,000.00, or both.

 

     (12) In collaboration with the department of state police, the

 

department of information technology shall establish an automated

 

fingerprint identification system database that would allow the

 

department of state police to store and maintain all fingerprints

 

submitted under this section and would provide for an automatic

 

notification if and when a subsequent criminal arrest fingerprint

 

card submitted into the system matches a set of fingerprints

 

previously submitted in accordance with this section. Upon such

 

notification, the department of state police shall immediately

 

notify the department and the department shall immediately contact

 

the respective health facility or agency with which that individual

 

is associated. Information in the database established under this

 

subsection is confidential, is not subject to disclosure under the

 

freedom of information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 15.246, and

 

shall not be disclosed to any person except for purposes of this

 

act or for law enforcement purposes.

 

     (13) Within 1 year after the effective date of the amendatory

 

act that added this section April 1, 2006, the department shall

 

submit a written report to the legislature regarding each of the

 

following:

 

     (a) The impact and effectiveness of this amendatory act 2006

 

PA 28.

 

     (b) The feasibility of implementing criminal history checks on

 

volunteers who work in those health facilities or agencies and on

 


state agency employees who are involved in the licensing of those

 

health facilities or agencies and regulation of those employees.

 

     (c) The amount of federal funds provided to implement a pilot

 

program for national and state background checks on direct access

 

employees of long-term care facilities or providers, the amount of

 

those funds expended to date, and the amount of those funds

 

remaining.

 

     (14) Within 3 years after the effective date of this section

 

April 1, 2006, the department shall submit a written report to the

 

legislature outlining a plan to cover the costs of the criminal

 

history checks required under this section if federal funding is no

 

longer available or is inadequate to cover those costs.

 

     (15) By March 1, 2007, the department and the department of

 

state police shall develop and implement an electronic web-based

 

system to assist those health facilities and agencies required to

 

check relevant registries and conduct criminal history checks of

 

its employees and independent contractors and to provide for an

 

automated notice to those health facilities or agencies for those

 

individuals inputted in the system who, since the initial check,

 

have been convicted of a disqualifying offense or have been the

 

subject of a substantiated finding of abuse, neglect, or

 

misappropriation of property.

 

     (16) As used in this section:

 

     (a) "Adult foster care facility" means an adult foster care

 

facility licensed under the adult foster care facility licensing

 

act, 1979 PA 218, MCL 400.701 to 400.737.

 

     (b) "Direct access" means access to a patient or resident or

 


to a patient's or resident's property, financial information,

 

medical records, treatment information, or any other identifying

 

information.

 

     (c) "Home health agency" means a person certified by medicare

 

whose business is to provide to individuals in their places of

 

residence other than in a hospital, nursing home, or county medical

 

care facility 1 or more of the following services: nursing

 

services, therapeutic services, social work services, homemaker

 

services, home health aide services, or other related services and

 

"home services agency" mean those terms as defined in section

 

1104a.

 

     (d) "Independent contract" means a contract entered into by a

 

health facility or agency with an individual who provides the

 

contracted services independently or a contract entered into by a

 

health facility or agency with an organization or agency that

 

employs or contracts with an individual after complying with the

 

requirements of this section to provide the contracted services to

 

the health facility or agency on behalf of the organization or

 

agency.

 

     (e) "Medicare" means benefits under the federal medicare

 

program established under title XVIII of the social security act,

 

42 USC 1395 to 1395ggg 1395hhh.

 

     Sec. 21401. (1) As used in this part:

 

     (a) "Home care" means a level of care provided to a patient

 

that is consistent with the categories "routine home care day" or

 

"continuous home care day" described in 42 C.F.R. CFR 418.302(b)(1)

 

and (2) and includes home services as that term is defined in

 


section 1104a.

 

     (b) "Hospice residence" means a facility that meets all of the

 

following:

 

     (i) Provides 24-hour hospice care to 2 or more patients at a

 

single location.

 

     (ii) Either provides inpatient care directly in compliance with

 

this article and with the standards set forth in 42 C.F.R. CFR

 

418.100 or provides home care as described in this article.

 

     (iii) Is owned, operated, and governed by a hospice program that

 

is licensed under this article and provides aggregate days of

 

patient care on a biennial basis to not less than 51% of its

 

hospice patients in their own homes. As used in this subparagraph,

 

"home" does not include a residence established by a patient in a

 

health facility or agency licensed under this article or a

 

residence established by a patient in an adult foster care facility

 

licensed under the adult foster care facility licensing act, Act

 

No. 218 of the Public Acts of 1979, being sections 400.701 to

 

400.737 of the Michigan Compiled Laws 1979 PA 218, MCL 400.701 to

 

400.737.

 

     (c) "Inpatient care" means a level of care provided to a

 

patient that is consistent with the categories "inpatient respite

 

care day" and "general inpatient care day" described in 42 C.F.R.

 

CFR 418.302(b)(3) and (4).

 

     (2) Article 1 contains general definitions and principles of

 

construction applicable to all articles in this code act and part

 

201 contains definitions applicable to this part.