Hospitals: licensing.

Existing law establishes the State Department of Public Health and sets forth its powers and duties, including, but not limited to, duties relating to the licensing and regulation of health facilities, as defined. This bill would prescribe timelines for the department to approve a written application submitted by a general acute care hospital or an acute psychiatric hospital to, among other things, modify, add, or expand a service or program. The bill would require the department to complete its evaluation and approve or deny an application within 100 days of receipt of the application. The bill would require the department to approve a written application to expand a service that is currently being provided within 30 business days of receipt of the completed application, unless the hospital is out of compliance with existing laws governing the service to be expanded. Under the bill, an approved expanded service would remain licensed for not more than 18 months, unless the department approves the license for a longer period. The bill would require the department to develop a centralized applications advice program to assist hospitals in identifying and completing the correct paperwork and other requirements necessary to modify, add, or expand a service or program. The bill would require the department, on or before December 31, 2019, to develop an automated application system to process applications. Under the bill, the resources necessary to implement the application process would be made available, upon appropriation, from the Internal Departmental Quality Improvement Account.