2019 -- S 0771

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LC001498

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2019

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS -- CENTRAL SERVICE TECHNICIANS

     

     Introduced By: Senator Elizabeth A. Crowley

     Date Introduced: April 04, 2019

     Referred To: Senate Health & Human Services

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

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     SECTION 1. Title 5 of the General Laws entitled "BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS"

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is hereby amended by adding thereto the following chapter:

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CHAPTER 89

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CERTIFICATION OF CENTRAL SERVICE TECHNICIANS

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     5-89-1. Short title.

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     This chapter shall be known and may be cited as "Certification of Central Service

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Technicians."

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     5-89-2. Definitions.

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     As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

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     (1) "Allied health professional" means a person who holds and maintains a registration,

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certification, or license to perform health care services by a state or a nationally accredited

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credentialing organization.

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     (2) "Central service technician" means any person, who decontaminates, inspects,

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assembles, packages, and sterilizes reusable medical instruments or devices in a freestanding,

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emergency-care facility, freestanding ambulatory surgical center, health care facility, hospital,

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physician ambulatory-surgery center, or podiatry ambulatory-surgery center.

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     (3) "Department" means the Rhode Island department of health.

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     (4) "Director" means the director of the Rhode Island department of health.

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     (5) "Freestanding ambulatory surgical center" means an establishment or place which

 

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may be a public or private organization equipped and operated exclusively for ambulatory

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patients for the purpose of performing surgical procedures which have the approval of the

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governing body and which in the opinion of the surgeon and anesthesiologist can be performed

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safely without requiring extensive anesthesia or overnight stay.

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     (6) "Freestanding, emergency-care facility" shall have the same meaning as such term is

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defined in § 23-17-2(7).

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     (7) "Health care facility" means any institutional health-service provider, facility, or

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institution, place, building, agency, or portion thereof, whether a partnership or corporation,

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whether public or private, whether organized for profit or not, used, operated, or engaged in

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providing health care services, including, but not limited to: hospitals; facilities providing surgical

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treatment to patients not requiring hospitalization (surgi-centers); and physician ambulatory-

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surgery centers and podiatry ambulatory-surgery centers providing surgical treatment. The term

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"health care facility" also includes organized ambulatory care facilities that are not part of a

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hospital but that are organized and operated to provide health care services to outpatients, such as:

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central-services facilities serving more than one health care facility or health care provider. The

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term "health care facility" shall not apply to organized, ambulatory care facilities owned and

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operated by professional service corporations as defined in chapter 5.1 of title 7, as amended (the

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"professional service corporation law"), or to a private practitioner's (physician, dentist, or other

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health care provider) office or group of the practitioners' offices (whether owned or operated by

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an individual practitioner, alone or as a member of a partnership, professional service corporation,

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organization, or association).

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     (8) "Health care provider" means any health care professional licensed, certified, or

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registered under title 5 "businesses and professions."

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     (9) "Hospital" means a person or governmental entity licensed in accordance with chapter

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17 of title 23 to establish, maintain, and operate a hospital.

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     (10) "Physician ambulatory-surgery center" shall have the same meaning as such term is

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defined in § 23-17-2(16).

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     (11) "Podiatry ambulatory-surgery center" shall have the same meaning as such term is

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defined in § 23-17-2(17).

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     5-89-3. Certification.

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     (a) A freestanding, emergency-care facility, freestanding ambulatory surgical center,

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health care facility, hospital, physician ambulatory-surgery center, and podiatry ambulatory-

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surgery center, as defined herein, shall not employ or otherwise retain the services of a central

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service technician unless such person:

 

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     (1) Has successfully passed a nationally accredited central service exam for central

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service technicians, and holds and maintains one of the following credentials administered by a

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nationally accredited central service technician credentialing organization: the certified registered

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central service technician credential, the certified sterile processing and distribution technician

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credential or a substantially equivalent credential; or

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     (2) Provides evidence that the person was employed as a central service technician in a

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health care facility on or before December 31, 2019.

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     (b) A central service technician who does not meet the requirements of § 5-89-3(a)(2)

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shall have eighteen (18) months from the date of hire to obtain the certified registered central

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service technician credential or the certified sterile processing and distribution technician.

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     (c) A freestanding emergency-care facility, freestanding ambulatory surgical center,

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health care facility, hospital, physician ambulatory-surgery center, and podiatry ambulatory-

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surgery center shall, upon the written request of a central service technician, verify, in writing, the

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central service technician's dates of employment or the contract period during which the central

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service technician provided services to the freestanding, emergency-care facility, freestanding

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ambulatory surgical center, health care facility, hospital, physician ambulatory-surgery center, or

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podiatry ambulatory-surgery.

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     5-89-4. Continuing education.

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     (a) A person who qualifies to function as a central service technician in a freestanding,

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emergency care facility, freestanding ambulatory surgical center, health care facility, hospital,

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physician ambulatory-surgery center, or podiatry ambulatory-surgery center under § 5-89-3 must

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annually complete ten (10) hours of continuing education credits to remain qualified to function

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as a central service technician.

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     (b) The continuing education required under this section shall be in areas related to the

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functions of a central service technician.

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     5-89-5. Health care provider and allied health professionals.

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     Nothing in § 5-89-3 shall prohibit the following persons from performing the tasks or

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functions of central service technicians:

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     (1) A health care provider;

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     (2) An allied health professional;

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     (3) A student or intern performing the functions of a central service technician under the

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direct supervision of a health care provider as part of the student's or intern's training or

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internship.

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     5-89-6. Department of health.

 

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     The director of the department of health may adopt regulations necessary to carry out the

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provisions of this chapter.

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     5-89-7. Severability.

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     If any provision of this chapter or the application of any provision to any person or under

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any circumstances is held invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, the invalidity does not

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affect any other provision or the application of the provision, and it is declared to be the

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legislative intent that this chapter and the provisions of this chapter would have been enacted if

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the invalid parts had not been included in the chapter.

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     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS -- CENTRAL SERVICE TECHNICIANS

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     This act would provide for the licensing and regulation of central service technicians, i.e.,

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any person who decontaminates, inspects, assembles, packages, and sterilizes reusable medical

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instruments or devices in a freestanding, emergency care facility, freestanding ambulatory

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surgical center, health care facility, hospital, physician ambulatory-surgery center, or podiatry

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ambulatory-surgery center.

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     This act would take effect upon passage.

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