(a) Administration and staffing.
(1) Legal responsibility. There shall be an individual or individuals that assume(s) full legal responsibility for the overall conduct of the facility and are responsible for compliance with all applicable laws and rules of the department.
(2) Facility director.
(3) Personnel requirements.
(4) Contracted services. If a facility does not employ a person qualified to provide a required or needed service, it shall have a contract with an outside resource to provide the service directly to residents or to act as a consultant to the facility. The facility maintains responsibility for ensuring that contract staff is qualified to perform the services to be provided and that they are appropriately supervised.
(5) Volunteer services. Volunteer staff may be placed in any position for which they are qualified. Requirements in paragraph (6) of this subsection shall apply to all volunteer staff.
(6) Staff development and training.
(b) Policies and procedures. The facility shall adopt, implement and enforce written policies and procedures detailing the operations of the facility. The policies shall be reviewed and updated annually. In addition to describing the operations of the facility and the manner in which care and services will be provided, the policies and procedures shall include:
(1) Resident admission.
(2) Infection control and universal precautions. There shall be written policies and procedures providing for a safe and sanitary environment, and the control of communicable diseases and infections in staff, residents, and visitors. The policy shall also provide for monitoring compliance of the facility and its staff with universal precautions in accordance with the Health and Safety Code (HSC), Chapter 85, Subchapter I, (relating to the Prevention of Transmission of Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Hepatitis B Virus by Infected Health Care Workers).
(3) Determination of death. If applicable, there shall be a written policy with protocols to be used in determining death that complies with HSC, Title 8, Subtitle A, Chapter 671, Subchapter A (relating to Determination of Death).
(4) Special waste. The facility shall comply with the requirements set forth by the department in §1.131-1.137 of this title (relating to Definition, Treatment, and Disposition of Special Waste from Health Care Related Facilities), and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality requirements in Title 30, Texas Administrative Code, Subchapter Y, §330.1004 (relating to Generators of Medical Waste).
(5) Confidentiality of records. There shall be a written policy that addresses the confidentiality of resident information.
(6) Advance directives. There shall be policies and procedures regarding the use of advance directives in the facility. These policies and procedures shall be in accordance with the Advance Directives Act, HSC, Chapter 166. Violations of §166.004 may result in the assessment of administrative penalties, in accordance with HSC, §248.0545 (relating to Violation of Law Relating to Advance Directives).
Source Note: The provisions of this §506.31 adopted to be effective July 25, 2004, 29 TexReg 6911; transferred effective June 1, 2019, as published in the Texas Register May 17, 2019, 44 TexReg 2467