A1662

An Act concerning information about the availability of beds in certain residential facilities and supplementing Title 30 of the Revised Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. a. The Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services in the Department of Human Services shall oversee the development and maintenance of a data dashboard report, which shall collect and track the daily information received pursuant to section 2 of this act about the number of open beds that are available for treatment for individuals in need of mental health or substance use disorder treatment in each facility in the State that is licensed to provide:

(1) long term or extended care services for mental health or substance use disorders and receives State or county funding, including, but not limited to, a psychiatric facility, psychiatric unit of a general hospital, short-term care facility, and special psychiatric hospital, as those terms are defined in section 2 of P.L.1987, c.116 (C.30:4-27.2), and a residential health care facility as defined in section 1 of P.L.1953, c.212 (C.30:11A-1); or

(2) acute or intermediate level of care services for mental health or a substance use disorder and receives State or county funding, including, but not limited to, a psychiatric facility, psychiatric unit of a general hospital, short-term care facility, and special psychiatric hospital, as those terms are defined in section 2 of P.L.1987, c.116 (C.30:4-27.2).

b. The information maintained in the data dashboard report shall include, by county:

(1) the address and telephone number of the facility;

(2) the type of services provided by the facility;

(3) the licensed bed capacity of the facility; and

(4) the number of open beds that are available for the provision of mental health or substance use disorder services, based on the information received pursuant to section 2 of this act.

c. The information described in subsection b. of this section shall be:

(1) prominently displayed on the website of the department;

(2) made available to the public, upon request, through the Statewide 2-1-1 telephone system; and

(3) made available using any other means that the Commissioner of Human Services deems appropriate.

d. The commissioner is authorized to solicit, receive, and accept grants, funds, or anything of value from any public or private entity and receive and accept contributions of money, property, labor, or any other thing of value from any legitimate source for the purpose of the development and maintenance of a data dashboard report pursuant to this act.

2. a.Each facility in the State that is licensed to provide mental health or substance use disorder services, as provided for in section 1 of this act, and receives State or county funding shall submit to the data dashboard report, no less than once a day, information advising of the number of open beds that are available for the provision of mental health or substance use disorder services on that day.

b. In addition to the reporting requirements provided for in subsection a. of this section, each acute care hospital licensed pursuant to P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et seq.) shall report, no less than once a day, through an online data collection system containing nonidentifying information to be shared publicly:

(1) the number of patients who were admitted to the emergency room and hospital with a psychiatric or addiction diagnosis;

(2) the number of psychiatric screening evaluations that were requested from, and completed by, a county mental health screener, as defined in section 2 of P.L.1987, c.116 (C.30:4-27.2);

(3) the amount of time, in hours and minutes, that patients have been waiting for evaluation since admission to the emergency room;

(4) the number of patients who were transferred for psychiatric treatment to a psychiatric facility or special psychiatric hospital, as those terms are defined in section 2 of P.L.1987, c.116 (C.30:4-27.2);

(5) the number of patients who were admitted for psychiatric treatment to the hospital, and the total wait time of these patients from the date and time of admission to the emergency room;

(6) the percentage of patients on whom chemical or physical restraints were used; and

(7) such other data as necessary to monitor the effectiveness of the response system for acute care psychiatric services in the State.

3. a. The division shall convene a workgroup which shall include, at a minimum, one representative from each of the following organizations:

(1) the New Jersey Hospital Association;

(2) the New Jersey Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians;

(3) the Health Care Association of New Jersey;

(4) LeadingAge New Jersey; and

(5) other stakeholders as the division deems appropriate.

b. The workgroup shall assist the division and the department in the monitoring of the data reporting requirements as provided for in section 2 of this act, including, but not limited to the following parameters:

(1) definitions of all data elements;

(2) protocols for data reporting;

(3) qualifications of a person who submits data pursuant to section 2 of this act;

(4) facility compliance with the provisions of this act;

(5) development of a "real-time" reporting mechanism; and

(6) any other area of interest that the workgroup deems appropriate.

4. This act shall take effect on the first day of the fourth month next following the date of enactment.

STATEMENT

This bill requires the development and maintenance of a data dashboard report, which is to collect and track daily information about the number of open beds that are available in facilities in the State for individuals in need of mental health or substance use disorder treatment. The bill defines these facilities to include facilities which provide long term or extended care services or acute or intermediate level of care services and receive State or county funding including, but not limited to, those facilities licensed in the State as: a psychiatric facility (a State or county psychiatric hospital or psychiatric unit of a county hospital); psychiatric unit of a general hospital (an inpatient unit restricting services to care of voluntarily admitted persons with mental illness); a short-term care facility (an inpatient, community-based facility providing acute care and assessment services); a special psychiatric facility, (a public or private hospital which provides voluntary and involuntary mental health services); and a residential health care facility.

The information in the data dashboard report is to be prominently displayed on the website of the Department of Human Services (DHS), made available to the public, upon request, through the Statewide 2-1-1- telephone system, and made available using any other means the Commissioner of Human Services deems appropriate.

The Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services in DHS is to oversee the development and maintenance of the data dashboard report, and the commissioner is authorized to solicit funds and accept contributions for the purpose of the development and maintenance of the report.

The bill directs the division to convene a workgroup which will include representatives from four organizations: the New Jersey Hospital Association; the New Jersey Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians; the Health Care Association of New Jersey; and Leading Age New Jersey, and other stakeholders as the division deems appropriate.

The workgroup will assist the division and the department in: monitoring the data reporting; defining all data elements; developing protocols for data reporting; defining qualifications of the person who is responsible to submit the data; monitoring facility compliance; developing a "real-time" reporting mechanism; and any other area of interest that the workgroup deems appropriate.

Each facility provided for in the bill is to submit to the data dashboard report, no less than once a day, information advising of the number of open beds that are available for the provision of mental health or substance use disorder services.

Based on that daily information, the data dashboard report would include, by county: the address and telephone number of the facility; the type of services provided by the facility and its licensed bed capacity; and the number of open beds that are available for the provision of mental health and substance use disorder services on that day.

Additionally, the bill requires each acute care hospital to report, no less than once a day through an online data collection system, the following information: 1) the number of patients who were admitted to the emergency room and hospital with a psychiatric or addiction diagnosis; 2) the number of psychiatric screening evaluations that were requested from, and completed by, a county mental health screener; 3) the amount of time, in hours and minutes, that patients have been waiting for evaluation since admission to the emergency room; 4) the number of patients who were transferred for psychiatric treatment to a psychiatric facility or special psychiatric hospital; 5) the total wait time of the patients who were admitted for psychiatric treatment to the hospital from the date and time of admission to the emergency room; 6) the percentage of patients on whom chemical or physical restraints were used; and 7) such other data as necessary to monitor the effectiveness of the response system for acute care psychiatric services in the State.