26 Tex. Admin. Code § 510.61 - Patient Transfer Agreements
(a)
General provisions.
(1) Transfer agreements
between transferring facilities and receiving facilities as those terms are
defined in §
510.43 of Title 40 (relating to
Patient Transfer Policy) are voluntary.
(2) If transfer agreements are executed that
are consistent with the requirements of subsection (b) of this section, any
patient transfers shall be governed by the agreement. The memorandum of
transfer described in §
510.43(d)(10) of
Title 40 is not required for transfers governed by an agreement.
(3) Multiple transfer agreements may be
entered into based upon the type or level of medical services available at
other facilities.
(b)
Rules for patient transfer agreements.
(1) A
patient transfer agreement shall contain the following.
(A) Except as specifically provided in
paragraph (4) of this subsection, relating to mandated providers, the transfer
of a patient shall not be predicated upon arbitrary, capricious, or
unreasonable discrimination based upon race, religion, national origin, age,
sex, physical condition, or economic status.
(B) The transfer or receipt of patients in
need of emergency care shall not be based upon the individual's inability to
pay for the services rendered.
(2) The patient transfer agreement shall
require that patient transfers be accomplished in a medically appropriate
manner by determining the availability of appropriate facilities, services, and
staff for providing care to the patient and by providing:
(A) medically appropriate life support
measures which a reasonable and prudent physician in the same or similar
locality exercising ordinary care would use to stabilize the patient prior to
transfer and to sustain the patient during the transfer;
(B) appropriate personnel and equipment which
a reasonable and prudent physician in the same or similar locality exercising
ordinary care would use for the transfer; and
(C) all necessary records for continuing the
care for the patient.
(3) The facility shall recognize the right of
an individual to request transfer into the care of a physician and facility of
the individual's own choosing.
(4)
The facility shall recognize and comply with the requirements of the Indigent
Health Care and Treatment Act, Health and Safety Code, Chapter 61 (relating to
the Transfer of Patients to Mandated Providers).
(5) The patient transfer agreement shall
provide that a patient with an emergency medical condition which has not been
stabilized shall not be transferred unless the following occurs.
(A) The patient, or a legally responsible
person acting on the patient's behalf, after being informed of the facility's
obligations under this section and of the risk of transfer, has requested
transfer to another facility in writing.
(B) A physician has signed a certification,
which includes a summary of the risks and benefits, that, based on the
information available at the time of transfer, the medical benefits reasonably
expected from the provision of appropriate medical treatment at another
facility outweigh the increased risks to the patient and, in the case of labor,
to the unborn child from effecting the transfer.
(C) If a physician is not physically present
at the time a patient is transferred, a qualified medical person has signed a
certification described in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph after
consultation with a physician who has made the determination described in
subparagraph (B) of this paragraph and who will subsequently countersign the
certification within a reasonable period of time.
Notes
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