Health facilities: special services.

Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of health facilities by the State Department of Public Health and prohibits a health facility from providing a special service without the approval of the department. Existing law defines a "special service" to mean a functional division, department, or unit of a health facility that is organized, staffed, and equipped to provide a specific type of patient care and that has been identified by regulations of the department and for which the department has established special standards for quality of care. The bill would specify that a "special service" does not include a functional division, department, or unit of a nursing facility, as defined, that is organized, staffed, and equipped to provide inpatient physical therapy services, occupational therapy services, or speech pathology and audiology services to residents of the facility if those services are provided solely to meet the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services certification requirements. The bill would specify that a "special service" includes physical therapy services, occupational therapy services, or speech pathology and audiology services provided by a nursing facility to outpatients and would state that these provisions do not limit the department's ability to enforce or evaluate compliance with specified therapy requirements during investigations or inspections.