Sec. 241.1865.  WAIVER FROM LEVEL OF CARE DESIGNATION REQUIREMENTS; CONDITIONAL DESIGNATION.  (a)  The department shall develop and implement a process through which a hospital may request and enter into an agreement with the department to:
(1)  receive or maintain a level of care designation for which the hospital does not meet all requirements conditioned on the hospital, in accordance with a plan approved by the department and outlined under the agreement, satisfying all requirements for the level of care designation within a time specified under the agreement, which may not exceed the first anniversary of the effective date of the agreement; or
(2)  waive one specific requirement for a level of care designation in accordance with Subsection (c).
(b)  The process developed and implemented under this section must:
(1)  subject to Subdivision (2), allow a hospital to submit a written request under Subsection (a) at any time;
(2)  require a hospital to:
(A)  before submitting the request, provide notice of the hospital's intention to seek a waiver under this section to the hospital's medical staff who practice in a specialty service area affected by the waiver;
(B)  provide the notice required by Paragraph (A) in accordance with the hospital's process for communicating information to medical staff; and
(C)  document the provision of the notice required by Paragraph (A); and
(3)  allow the department to make a determination on the request at any time.
(c)  The department may enter into an agreement with a hospital to waive a requirement under Subsection (a)(2) only if the department determines the waiver is justified after considering:
(1)  the expected impact on:
(A)  the accessibility of care in the geographical area served by the hospital if the waiver is not granted; and
(B)  quality of care and patient safety; or
(2)  whether health care services related to the requirement can be provided through telemedicine medical services under Section 241.1835.
(d)  A waiver agreement entered into under Subsection (a):
(1)  must expire not later than at the end of each designation cycle but may be renewed on expiration by the department under the same or different terms; and
(2)  may specify any conditions for ongoing reporting and monitoring during the agreement.
(e)  A hospital that enters into a waiver agreement under Subsection (a) is required to satisfy all other requirements for a level of care designation that are not waived in the agreement.
(f)  The department shall post on the department's Internet website and periodically update:
(1)  a list of hospitals that enter into an agreement with the department under this section; and
(2)  an aggregated list of the requirements conditionally met or waived in agreements entered into under this section.
(g)  A hospital that enters into an agreement with the department under this section shall post on the hospital's Internet website the nature and general terms of the agreement.
Added by Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 600 (S.B. 749), Sec. 2, eff. June 10, 2019.