[Effective 7/1/2024]

(a) Prior to employing or contracting with any person providing direct care to a resident or patient, for whom a background check has not been completed, a health care facility licensed under this title shall initiate and perform a “registry check” which for the purposes of this section is defined as:

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 68-11-271 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • sex: means a person's immutable biological sex as determined by anatomy and genetics existing at the time of birth and evidence of a person's biological sex. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) A state-by-state look in any state in which the person has lived in the previous seven (7) years of the national sex offender public registry website coordinated by the United States department of justice; and
(2) Any adult abuse registry maintained for any state in which the person has lived during the previous seven (7) years; and
(3) The department of health’s elder abuse registry established pursuant to part 10 of this chapter.
(b) A health care facility may not employ or contract with any person providing direct care to a resident or patient if that individual is listed on any of the registries listed in subdivisions (a)(1)-(3).
(c) If a health care facility contracts with a company, organization, or agency that provides or arranges for the provision of direct care to a resident or patient, the facility satisfies the requirements of subsection (a) by:

(1) Receiving and retaining written documentation that an individual supplied by that company, organization, or agency is not listed on any of those registries, or;
(2) Relying on a written contractual representation that such company, organization, or agency conducts the name searches required by subdivisions (a)(1)-(3), and any individual supplied by that company, organization, or agency is not listed on any of those registries; or
(3) Satisfying both subdivisions (c)(1) and (2).
(d) This section is not intended to apply to contracted, external staff who provide such services as cleaning services, maintenance of office or medical equipment or other services where direct patient contact is not intended.
(e) A health care facility that complies with the requirements to perform a “registry check” under subsection (a), subsection (c), or both, shall not be subject to civil or criminal liability solely based upon the information provided through a registry check under this section. This immunity shall extend to a claim related to the facility’s refusal to employ or contract with a person based on information obtained from a registry check.
(f) The department of health shall post no later than October 1, 2010 in a conspicuous location on its website as well as the website of the health facilities commission a link to all databases listed in subdivisions (a)(1)-(3). In addition, the department of health shall notify all health care facilities annually through licensure renewals of their obligations under this section.
(g) The requirements of this section shall become effective on and after October 1, 2010.
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