Bill > HB1538

This bill requires the Department of Health to create rules allowing hospitals to prove they meet state licensing inspection requirements by being accredited or certified by any organization that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), a federal agency that oversees Medicare and Medicaid, recognizes. Currently, only The Joint Commission, a major hospital accreditation body, is accepted in Hawaii for this purpose, but this bill expands that to include other CMS-recognized organizations like the Accreditation Commission for Health Care, Center for Improvement in Healthcare Quality, and DNV GL Healthcare, meaning hospitals can use accreditations from these other groups to show they are compliant with state licensing rules, though the department can still inspect hospitals for specific reasons like complaints or adverse findings, and information from these accreditation reports will be public.

Health and Social Services

https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=HB&billnumber=1538&year=2026