WAC 246-320-116   Specialty hospital responsibilities.  This section identifies a specialty hospital obligation, actions and responsibilities to comply with the hospital law and rules.

     Specialty hospitals must:

     (1) Comply with chapter 70.41 RCW and this chapter;

     (2) Only set up inpatient beds within the licensed bed capacity approved by the department or the medicare provider agreement;

     (3) Receive approval for additional inpatient beds as required in chapter 70.38 RCW before exceeding department approved bed capacity;

     (4) Provide appropriate discharge planning;

     (5) Provide staff proficient in resuscitation and respiration maintenance twenty-four hours per day, seven days per week;

     (6) Participate in the medicare and medicaid programs and provide at least the same percentage of services to medicare and medicaid beneficiaries, as a percent of gross revenues, as the lowest percentage of services provided to medicare and medicaid beneficiaries by a general hospital in the same health service area. The lowest percentage of services provided to medicare and medicaid beneficiaries shall be determined by the department in consultation with the general hospitals in the health service area but shall not be the percentage of medicare and medicaid services of a hospital that serves primarily members of a particular health plan or government sponsor;

     (7) Provide at least the same percentage of charity care, as a percent of gross revenues, as the lowest percentage of charity care provided by a general hospital in the same health service area. The lowest percentage of charity care shall be determined by the department in consultation with the general hospitals in the health service area but shall not be the percentage of charity care of a hospital that serves primarily members of a particular health plan or government sponsor;

     (8) Require any physician owner to:

     (a) In accordance with chapter 19.68 RCW, disclose a financial interest in the specialty hospital and provide a list of alternative hospitals before referring a patient to the specialty hospital; and

     (b) If the specialty hospital does not have an intensive care unit, notify the patient that if intensive care services are required, the patient must be transferred to another hospital;

     (9) Provide emergency services twenty-four hours per day, seven days per week, in a designated area of the hospital, and comply with requirements for emergency facilities that are established by the department;

     (10) Establish procedures to stabilize a patient with an emergency medical condition until the patient is transported or transferred to another hospital if emergency services cannot be provided at the specialty hospital to meet the needs of the patient in an emergency;

     (11) Maintain a transfer agreement with a general hospital in the same health service area that establishes a process for patient transfers in a situation in which the specialty hospital cannot provide continuing care for a patient because of the specialty hospital's scope of services and for the transfer of patients; and

     (12) Accept the transfer of patients from general hospitals when the patients require the category of care or treatment provided by the specialty hospital.



[Statutory Authority: Chapter 70.41 RCW and RCW 43.70.040. 09-07-050, § 246-320-116, filed 3/11/09, effective 4/11/09.]