Bill > S1354

This bill enacts several changes to Florida's healthcare laws, including requiring hospitals to employ a certain percentage of certified surgical assistants and surgical technologists, with specific definitions provided for these roles and exceptions for those with military training, prior employment, or current enrollment in accredited programs. It also revises the criteria for a "Gold Seal Program" nursing home facility to focus on the absence of unresolved, verified complaints reported to the State Long Term Care Ombudsman Program within the 30 months prior to application. Furthermore, the Department of Children and Families is tasked with developing standards and protocols for collecting, storing, transmitting, and analyzing utilization data from public receiving facilities, which are licensed crisis stabilization units, to create a statewide database for analyzing the use of crisis stabilization services funded by the Baker Act. The bill also modifies contract requirements for Medicaid managed care programs by standardizing prior authorization forms to a two-page limit, requiring insurers to provide a broad range of therapeutic drug options, and establishing a clear process for overriding step-therapy or fail-first medication protocols within 72 hours if certain clinical criteria are met. Additionally, it allows pharmacists to administer meningococcal and shingles vaccines under established protocols and revises provisions related to trauma center verification and designation, including a temporary cap on trauma activation fees and a process for reviewing the state trauma system.