Emergency services and care.

(1) Existing law provides for the regulation of health facilities, including general acute care hospitals and acute psychiatric hospitals. A violation of these provisions is a crime. Existing law requires emergency services and care to be provided to any person requesting the services or care for any condition in which the person is in danger of loss of life. For purposes of these provisions, existing law defines emergency services and care to include additional screening, examination, and evaluation by a physician, or other personnel to the extent permitted by applicable law and within the scope of their licensure and clinical privileges, to determine if a psychiatric emergency medical condition exists, as provided. This bill would define psychiatric emergency medical condition, and would, for this purpose, include admission or transfer to a psychiatric unit within a general acute care hospital or to an acute psychiatric hospital within the care and treatment of this condition. This bill would, consistent with provisions of law relating to involuntary mental health services, also allow the transfer of a patient to a psychiatric unit within a general acute care hospital or to an acute psychiatric hospital for the purpose of providing care and treatment that is solely necessary to relieve or eliminate a psychiatric emergency medical condition if, in the opinion of the treating provider, the patient's psychiatric emergency medical condition is such that, within a reasonable medical probability, no material deterioration of the patient's condition is likely to result from, or occur during, the transfer of the patient. The bill would require a provider to notify the patient's health care service plan, or the health plan's contracting medical provider, of the need for the transfer, as provided. The bill would require a hospital that transfers a patient pursuant to these provisions to seek to obtain the name and contact information of the patient's health care service plan, would require the hospital to document its attempt to ascertain this information, and would require the hospital to notify the health care service plan or the health plan's contracting medical provider of specified information related to the transfer, as provided. The bill would also require a health care service plan to provide noncontracting hospitals with its contact information, as provided, and would require health care service plans to update this information as necessary, but no less than once a year. The bill would further require the hospital to which a patient is transferred pursuant to these provisions to notify the patient's health care service plan of the transfer, as provided. By creating new crimes, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.