ASSEMBLY, No. 4685
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
218th LEGISLATURE
INTRODUCED OCTOBER 29, 2018
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman SHANIQUE SPEIGHT
District 29 (Essex)
Assemblywoman NANCY J. PINKIN
District 18 (Middlesex)
Assemblywoman NANCY F. MUNOZ
District 21 (Morris, Somerset and Union)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman Tucker, Assemblyman Benson, Assemblywomen McKnight and Murphy
SYNOPSIS
Requires emergency departments to take certain measures concerning palliative care for patients.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As reported by the Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee on December 5, 2019, with amendments.
An Act concerning emergency departments and palliative care and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. 1a.1 The emergency department of a general hospital licensed pursuant to P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et seq.) shall develop and implement a plan to integrate the provision of palliative care services for patients treated in the emergency department for whom palliative care is appropriate. The plan shall include1:
(1)1 the adoption of a standardized screening tool 1, as recommended by the Department of Health,1 for use by health care professionals in the emergency department to facilitate the identification of patients who present to the emergency department for acute symptom management, pain relief, or otherwise, who would benefit from palliative care services1[. The plan shall also include];
(2)1 the provision of patient-centered information1, as developed by the Department of Health,1 concerning the benefits of palliative care, the conditions, diagnoses, and disease stage for which palliative care is generally appropriate, and referrals to providers of outpatient palliative care services, when appropriate1[.The plan shall include]; and
(3)1 consideration of the unique needs of patients with intellectual or developmental disabilities 1[,]1 or behavioral health issues who present to the emergency department and for whom palliative care may be indicated.
2. This act shall take effect on the first day of the seventh month next following enactment 1, except that the Commissioner of Health may take such anticipatory administrative action in advance thereof as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act1.