Bill > HB4012

This bill, titled "Cito's Law," amends Arizona law to add a new chapter focused on the care of patients with special needs, which includes individuals who have disabilities significantly affecting their ability to communicate symptoms or pain, and nonverbal patients who cannot communicate verbally due to various conditions. The bill mandates that health care facilities, defined as licensed medical establishments like hospitals and urgent care centers, ensure health care providers, who are licensed professionals involved in direct patient care, conduct enhanced diagnostic evaluations for these patients when serious internal illness or injury is suspected, potentially including laboratory tests and imaging, though deviations are allowed if clinically justified and documented. Furthermore, health care facilities must use evidence-based pain assessment tools suitable for these patients, actively seek and document input from family or caregivers familiar with the patient's usual behavior and pain expressions, and provide reasonable communication supports like assistive tools. The bill also requires annual training for emergency department staff and other relevant personnel on topics such as atypical symptom presentation, specialized pain assessment, communication strategies, and enhanced diagnostic principles, with the Department of Health Services responsible for establishing specific training requirements through rules. Additionally, health care facilities must offer access to social work or patient advocacy services to assist with communication and support caregiver involvement for these patients, and all diagnostic decisions, communication methods, caregiver input, and any deviations from enhanced evaluation practices must be documented in medical records, with annual compliance data submitted to the department, which will oversee enforcement and adopt necessary rules.

Health and Social Services

https://apps.azleg.gov/BillStatus/BillOverview/85523