Bill > H2094

This bill aims to ensure that health care policies and protocols do not discriminate between patients with mental health or substance use conditions and patients with medical or surgical conditions. The key provisions of the bill include: 1. Requiring acute-care hospitals and satellite emergency facilities to review their policies and procedures annually to ensure non-discrimination, and submit a certification to the Department of Public Health and the Department of Mental Health. 2. Establishing clinical competencies and operational standards for licensed mental health facilities, and requiring them to have a clinical affiliation with a medical facility. 3. Prohibiting licensed mental health facilities from refusing to admit a patient who meets the general admission criteria, unless the facility's medical director determines that the patient's needs exceed the facility's capabilities. 4. Requiring satellite emergency facilities to ensure patients have access to a licensed mental health professional upon admission. 5. Requiring licensed mental health facilities to report bed availability and other information to the Massachusetts Behavioral Health Access website multiple times per day. 6. Establishing an interagency working group to study the need for behavioral health services across the Commonwealth and make recommendations to reduce boarding in emergency departments. 7. Creating a commission to implement an expedited psychiatric inpatient admissions protocol, collect data on boarding in emergency departments, and make recommendations to reduce wait times.

Health and Social Services

https://malegislature.gov/Bills/192/H2094