[Effective 7/1/2024]

(a)

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 68-11-226 v2

  • Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
  • commission: means the health facilities commission created by §. See Tennessee Code 68-11-201
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Department: means the department of health. See Tennessee Code 68-11-201
  • Evaluation: means the determination and documentation of the physiological and functional factors that impact the selection of an appropriate seating and wheeled mobility device. See Tennessee Code 68-11-201
  • Facility: means any institution, place or building providing health care services that is required to be licensed under this chapter. See Tennessee Code 68-11-201
  • Grace period: The number of days you'll have to pay your bill for purchases in full without triggering a finance charge. Source: Federal Reserve
  • Home medical equipment: means medical equipment intended for use by the consumer, including, but not limited to, the following:
    (i) A device, instrument, apparatus, machine, or other similar article whose label bears the statement: "Caution: Federal law requires dispensing by or on the order of a physician. See Tennessee Code 68-11-201
  • Home medical equipment provider: means any person who provides home medical equipment services. See Tennessee Code 68-11-201
  • Home medical equipment services: means a service provided by any person who sells or rents home medical equipment for delivery to the consumer's place of residence in this state, regardless of the location of the home medical equipment provider. See Tennessee Code 68-11-201
  • Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
  • Patient: includes , but is not limited to, any person who is suffering from an acute or chronic illness or injury or who is crippled, convalescent or infirm, or who is in need of obstetrical, surgical, medical, nursing or supervisory care. See Tennessee Code 68-11-201
  • Person: means any individual, partnership, association, corporation, other business entity, state or local governmental agencies and entities, and federal agencies and entities to the extent permitted by federal law. See Tennessee Code 68-11-201
  • physician: includes a podiatrist licensed under title 63, chapter 3. See Tennessee Code 68-11-201
  • Qualified rehabilitation professional: means :
    (A) A health care professional within the professional's scope of practice licensed under title 63. See Tennessee Code 68-11-201
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Wheeled mobility device: means a wheelchair or wheelchair and seated positioning system prescribed by a physician and required for use by the patient for a period of six (6) months or more. See Tennessee Code 68-11-201
  • written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) The commission shall establish, by rules and regulations, standards by which a home medical equipment provider shall be licensed. The commission shall provide by rule that any home medical equipment provider accredited by the joint commission on accreditation of health care organizations or other home care accrediting organizations recognized by the health care financing administration may submit documents evidencing current accreditation and shall be presumed to comply with the requirements of the commission. Licensing of a home medical equipment provider that has been accredited by the joint commission on accreditation of health care organizations or other home care accrediting organizations recognized by the health care financing administration shall become effective upon written notification from the commission’s staff that the accreditation meets the standards set out in the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to this section. The commission shall also establish, by rule, provisions to ensure that branch offices of a home medical equipment provider are not required to be separately licensed nor charged separate license fees.
(2) The commission shall establish by rule that a provider of home medical equipment services that has a principal place of business outside this state shall identify a contact person who shall provide the state survey agency and its surveyors access to all survey-related material stored in either physical or electronic format upon demand. Such survey items may include, but are not limited to, personnel files, patient medical records, policies and procedures, data, background checks, abuse registry checks, facility reported incidents, litigation and bankruptcy history, current licensure status, copies of investigations, discipline records in any other state in which the provider is licensed, and video records or files if available.
(b) Nothing in this section or in [former] § 68-11-102 [repealed] or § 68-11-201 or any other law shall require a home medical equipment provider that provides respiratory care equipment and that employs a respiratory care therapist, technician or assistant for the purpose of assisting patients with the use of such equipment to obtain authority as a provider of home health services.
(c) Nothing in this section or in § 68-11-201 requires a person providing home medical equipment services to obtain a certificate of need pursuant to part 16 of this chapter.
(d)

(1) All home care organizations providing prescribed wheeled mobility devices in this state shall have on staff, or contract with, a qualified rehabilitation professional.
(2) Home care organizations providing prescribed wheeled mobility devices shall obtain a complete written evaluation and recommendation by a qualified rehabilitation professional or physical therapist (PT) or occupational therapist (OT) for recipients of prescribed wheeled mobility devices.
(3) Home care organizations providing prescribed wheeled mobility devices shall obtain a complete face-to-face written evaluation and recommendation by a qualified rehabilitation professional for consumers of prescribed wheeled mobility devices.
(4) On and after July 1, 2007, a one-hundred-eighty-day grace period shall be provided to organizations that provide prescribed wheeled mobility devices, if the qualified rehabilitation professional on staff ceases to be employed and the organization has no other qualified rehabilitation professional on staff.
(5)

(A) On and after July 1, 2007, all organizations making available prescribed wheeled mobility devices to consumers in this state shall have a repair service department or a contract with a repair service department located in the state. The organization shall have a qualified technician with knowledge and capability of servicing the product provided to the consumer.
(B) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires, “consumer” means an individual for whom a wheeled mobility device, manual or powered, has been prescribed by a physician, and required for use for a period of six (6) months or more.
(6) On or after July 1, 2007, delivery and final fitting of a wheeled mobility device shall be determined by a qualified rehabilitation professional. This subsection (d) exempts wheeled mobility devices under category Group 1 medicare codes.
(e) Nothing in this section or § 68-11-201 shall require a provider of home medical equipment or services that manufactures or distributes, or both manufactures and distributes, the provider’s own company-branded insulin infusion pumps and related supplies and services to have a place of business within the state if the provider:

(1) Maintains an employee presence within the state;
(2) Is accredited by the joint commission; and
(3) Maintains a service telephone number for twenty-four-hour access, seven (7) days a week.
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