[Effective 7/1/2024]

(a) The health facilities commission shall promulgate rules pursuant to the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5, to provide optimal emergency medical and surgical services for pediatric patients in facilities it licenses and has the authority, when funding is available, to obtain assistance with development and implementation of its standards and to support delivery of educational services and equipment to providers of emergency pediatric medical services in facilities it licenses. In developing, updating, and implementing rules and providing services and equipment, the commission shall use national standards as a guide and shall collaborate with the emergency medical services division and its board and the committee on pediatric emergency care created pursuant to subsection (e).
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 68-11-251 v2

  • 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
  • Hospital: means any institution, place, building or agency represented and held out to the general public as ready, willing and able to furnish care, accommodations, facilities and equipment for the use, in connection with the services of a physician or dentist, of one (1) or more nonrelated persons who may be suffering from deformity, injury or disease or from any other condition for which nursing, medical or surgical services would be appropriate for care, diagnosis or treatment. See Tennessee Code 68-11-201
  • relative: means a spouse, parent, child, stepparent, stepchild, grandparent, grandchild, brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, aunt, uncle, niece, or nephew by blood, marriage, or adoption. See Tennessee Code 68-11-201 v2
  • Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b) It is the intent of this section that the entire spectrum of emergency pediatric medical and critical care services, including primary prevention of illness and injury, a statewide pediatric trauma system, disaster planning and management, acute care, data analysis, evaluation of potential standards of care, and rehabilitation be incorporated into the rules and into any services and equipment provided or required to be furnished pursuant to this section or any grant or contract awarded under this section.
(c) The rules authorized by this section must require adequate emergency medical care for children relative to the following, must take into account the size and location of facilities, and must require appropriate triage, stabilization, and referral of patients:

(1) Facility equipment standards;
(2) Qualifications of facility personnel; and
(3) Continuing professional education of facility personnel.
(d) To assist in the implementation of the purposes of this section, the health facilities commission has the authority to solicit and receive grants, donations, and public and private funding. The funding may be used for grants or contracts with 501(c)(3) organizations, as defined in 26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(3), that are capable of providing the advice, services, and equipment necessary to assist in the provision of state-of-the-art emergency medical and critical care for ill or injured pediatric patients.
(e)

(1) The committee on pediatric emergency care consists of those members who were originally jointly appointed by the board of licensing health care facilities and the emergency medical services board, and those who are chosen by the health facilities commission and the emergency medical services board to replace them, to include representatives of the following organizations:

(A) Tennessee Hospital Association;
(B) Tennessee chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics;
(C) Tennessee chapter of the American College of Surgeons;
(D) Tennessee chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians;
(E) Tennessee chapter of the American Academy of Family Physicians;
(F) Tennessee chapter of the Emergency Nurses Association;
(G) Tennessee Ambulance Service Association;
(H) Rural Health Association of Tennessee;
(I) Tennessee School Nurses Association;
(J) Tennessee Congress of Parents and Teachers (PTA);
(K) Tennessee Emergency Services Education Association;
(L) Comprehensive regional pediatric centers (CRPCs); and
(M) Other persons or representatives of such other organizations, groups, or entities that the chairs of the health facilities commission and the emergency medical services board agree are necessary to accomplish the purposes of this section.
(2) In forming its recommendations to the commission, the committee shall have access to the department of health’s existing raw and analyzed data regarding pediatric emergency care issues.
(f) On or before July 1 of every year, the health facilities commission and the emergency medical services board, in collaboration with the committee on pediatric emergency care, shall jointly prepare a report on the current status of emergency medical services for children and on continuing efforts to improve such services. The health facilities commission and emergency medical services board shall submit the joint report to the health and welfare committee of the senate, the health committee of the house of representatives, and the judiciary committee of the senate.
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