Acute hospital care at home.

Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of various types of health facilities, including general acute care hospitals, by the State Department of Public Health. Existing law generally makes a violation of these provisions a misdemeanor. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) provides for a waiver program authorizing a hospital to establish an Acute Hospital Care at Home (AHCaH) program, as specified, if the hospital meets certain conditions, including receiving approval from CMS after submitting a waiver request. This bill would authorize a general acute care hospital to provide AHCaH services if the hospital (1) meets the requirements established by CMS for AHCaH services, as specified, (2) has received approval from CMS to operate an AHCaH program, and (3) has notified the department of the establishment of an AHCaH program, including certain information about the program. The bill would define AHCaH services as services provided by a general acute care hospital to qualified patients in their homes by using methods that include telehealth, remote monitoring, and regular in-person visits by nurses and other medical staff. Under the bill, patients cared for in a general acute care hospital's AHCaH program would be considered inpatients of the hospital, with hospital services being subject to oversight by the department. Under the bill, a violation of its provisions would not constitute the above-described misdemeanor.