(1) As used in this section, the term “community mental health center” means a publicly funded, not-for-profit center that contracts with the department for the provision of inpatient, outpatient, day treatment, or emergency services.
(2) Any community mental health center and any facility licensed pursuant to s. 394.875 shall have an ongoing quality assurance program. The purpose of the quality assurance program shall be to objectively and systematically monitor and evaluate the appropriateness and quality of client care, to ensure that services are rendered consistent with reasonable, prevailing professional standards and to resolve identified problems.
(3) Each facility shall develop a written plan that addresses the minimum guidelines for the quality assurance program. Such guidelines shall include, but are not limited to:

(a) Standards for the provision of client care and treatment practices;
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Terms Used In Florida Statutes 394.907

  • Agency: means the Agency for Health Care Administration. See Florida Statutes 394.67
  • board: means the board within a district or subdistrict of the department which is established in accordance with 1s. See Florida Statutes 394.67
  • Client: means any individual receiving services in any substance abuse or mental health facility, program, or service, which facility, program, or service is operated, funded, or regulated by the agency and the department or regulated by the agency. See Florida Statutes 394.67
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Department: means the Department of Children and Families. See Florida Statutes 394.67
  • Director: means any member of the official board of directors reported in the organization's annual corporate report to the Florida Department of State, or, if no such report is made, any member of the operating board of directors. See Florida Statutes 394.67
  • person: includes individuals, children, firms, associations, joint adventures, partnerships, estates, trusts, business trusts, syndicates, fiduciaries, corporations, and all other groups or combinations. See Florida Statutes 1.01
  • plan: means the combined district substance abuse and mental health plan approved by the district administrator and governing bodies in accordance with this part. See Florida Statutes 394.67
(b) Procedures for the maintenance of client records;
(c) Policies and procedures for staff development;
(d) Standards for facility safety and maintenance;
(e) Procedures for peer review and resource utilization;
(f) Policies and procedures for adverse incident reporting to include verification of corrective action to remediate or minimize incidents and for reporting such incidents to the department by a timeframe as prescribed by rule.

Such plan shall be submitted to the governing board for approval and a copy provided to the department.

(4) The quality assurance program shall be directly responsible to the executive director of the facility and shall be subject to review by the governing board of the agency.
(5) Each facility shall designate a quality assurance manager who is an employee of the agency or under contract with the agency.
(6) Incident reporting shall be the affirmative duty of all staff. Any person filing an incident report shall not be subject to any civil action by virtue of such incident report.
(7) The department shall have access to all records necessary to determine licensee compliance with the provisions of this section. The records of quality assurance programs which relate solely to actions taken in carrying out the provisions of this section, and records obtained by the department to determine licensee compliance with this section, are confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1). Such records are not admissible in any civil or administrative action, except in disciplinary proceedings by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation and the appropriate regulatory board, nor shall such records be available to the public as part of the record of investigation for, and prosecution in disciplinary proceedings made available to the public by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation or the appropriate regulatory board. Meetings or portions of meetings of quality assurance program committees that relate solely to actions taken pursuant to this section are exempt from s. 286.011.
(8) This section does not apply to hospitals licensed pursuant to chapter 395 or programs operated within such hospitals.
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