Chapter 131E

This article shall be known as the Health Care Cost Reduction and Transparency Act of 2013. (2013-382, s. 10.1.)

(a) It is the intent of this Article to improve transparency in health care costs by providing information to the public on the costs of the most frequently reported diagnostic related groups (DRGs) for hospital inpatient care and the most common surgical procedures and imaging p…

(a) The following definitions apply in this Article: (1) Ambulatory surgical facility. - A facility licensed under Part 4 of Article 6 of this Chapter. (2) Commission. - The North Carolina Medical Care Commission. (3) Health insurer. - An entity that writes a health benefit plan …

(a) Requirements. - A hospital or ambulatory surgical facility required to file Schedule H, federal form 990, under the Code must provide the public access to its financial assistance policy and its annual financial assistance costs reported on its Schedule H, federal form 990. T…

Except as prohibited by federal law or regulation, each hospital and freestanding ambulatory surgical facility shall submit patient data to a statewide data processor within 60 calendar days after the close of each calendar quarter for patients that were discharged or died during…

(a) The following are not public records under Chapter 132 of the General Statutes: (1) Patient data furnished to and maintained by a statewide data processor pursuant to this Article. (2) Compilations of patient data prepared for release or dissemination by a statewide data proc…

(a) A statewide data processor shall perform the following duties: (1) Make available annually to the Division, at no charge, a report that includes a comparison of the 35 most frequently reported charges of hospitals and freestanding ambulatory surgical facilities. The report is…

(a) The Department of Health and Human Services (Department) shall make available, at no charge and in a manner and format of its choosing, to any person or organization under contract with the Department to provide medical care quality improvement services, the minimum necessary…

(a) The appointing authority, as stated in G.S. 131E-18, may remove a commissioner for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or misconduct in office. A commissioner may be removed only after he or she has been given a copy of the charges and provided the opportunity to be heard in perso…

(a) An authority shall have all powers necessary or convenient to carry out the purposes of this Part, including the following powers, which are in addition to those powers granted elsewhere in this Part: (1) To investigate hospital, medical, and health conditions and the means o…

The General Assembly finds that: (1) A substantial number of citizens of this State now reside, or in the future may reside, in long-term care facilities within this State; (2) Improper operation of long-term care facilities may tend to create a substantial risk of serious physic…

As used in this Article, unless otherwise specified: (1) "Long-term care facility" means a nursing home as defined in G.S. 131E-101(6) and an adult care home as defined in G.S. 131D-2.1(3) or G.S. 131E-101(4). (2) "Resident" means a person who has been admitted to a long-term car…

The Department may petition a court of competent jurisdiction to appoint a temporary manager to operate a long-term care facility. The petition shall set forth material facts showing that one or more of the grounds for appointment of a temporary manager set forth in G.S. 131E-234…

(a) The procedure for petitioning the superior court for the appointment of a temporary manager, including service of process shall be in accordance with the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure. If personal service of a copy of the petition cannot be made with due diligence u…

Upon a showing by the Department that one or more of the following grounds exist, the court may appoint a temporary manager for an initial period of 30 days or the first review by a superior court judge pursuant to G.S. 131E-243, whichever is longer: (1) Conditions or a pattern o…

(a) After the hearing described in G.S. 131E-233(b), if the court finds that the evidence warrants the granting of the relief sought and the respondent applies to the court for permission to promptly remove or remedy the conditions or pattern specified in the petition and demonst…

The court shall set the compensation of the temporary manager. (1993, c. 390, s. 1.)

In the petition the Department shall nominate at least one candidate for temporary manager and shall include the name, address, and qualifications of each nominee. The Department shall maintain a list of persons qualified to act as temporary managers. The person or persons nomina…

A temporary manager appointed under this section: (1) May exercise those powers and shall perform those duties ordered by the court; (2) Shall operate the long-term care facility in compliance with State and federal laws and assure the safety of the residents and the delivery of …

(a) If the temporary manager determines that it is necessary to correct a deficiency or deficiencies in the structure or furnishings reasonably estimated by the temporary manager to cost in excess of one thousand dollars ($1,000), the temporary manager shall submit to the court a…

(a) A hospital authority may acquire by eminent domain any real property, including fixtures and improvements, which it deems necessary to carry out the purposes of this Part. The hospital authority may exercise the power of eminent domain under the provisions of Chapter 40A of t…

(a) A person served with notice of an order of the court appointing a temporary manager and of the temporary manager's name and address shall be liable to pay the temporary manager for any goods or services provided by the temporary manager after the date of the order if the pers…

(a) A temporary manager shall not be required to honor any lease, mortgage, secured transaction, or other wholly or partially executory contract entered into by the respondent, licensee, or administrator of the long-term care facility if the temporary manager demonstrates to the …

(a) The Department may maintain a temporary management contingency fund. (b) Upon a showing that proper expenses of the temporary management under this Article exceed the operating funds of the long-term care facility, the court, in its discretion, may order that the Department p…

(a) The operations and continuing need for a temporary manager shall be reviewed by the court every 30 days following the appointment of the temporary manager. (b) The court may order the replacement of a temporary manager upon a showing that the temporary manager has mismanaged …

(a) Within 30 days after termination of the temporary management, the temporary manager shall give the court a complete accounting of: (1) All property of which the temporary manager took possession; (2) All funds collected under this Article; (3) Expenses of the temporary manage…

Nothing in this Article shall relieve any respondent, licensee, or administrator of a long-term care facility placed in temporary management of any civil or criminal liability, or any duty imposed by law, by reason of acts or omissions of the respondent, licensee, or administrato…

In the event of a conflict between federal laws or regulations and State law or rules, the federal laws or regulations shall control. (1993, c. 390, s. 1.)

All hospital facilities of the authority shall be subject to the planning, zoning, sanitary and building laws, ordinances and regulations applicable to the locality in which the hospital facility is situated. (1943, c. 780, s. 11; 1971, c. 799; 1983, c. 775, s. 1.)

(a) As used in this section, "public hospital" has the same meaning as in G.S. 159-39. A State hospital is any hospital operated by the State. (b) A public hospital or a State hospital may donate medical equipment it determines is no longer needed by the hospital to any of the fo…

(a) Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1395i-3(e) and 42 U.S.C. § 1396r(e), the Department shall establish and maintain a registry containing the names of all nurse aides working in nursing facilities in North Carolina. The Department shall include in the nurse aide registry any findings by…

(a) The Department shall establish and maintain a health care personnel registry containing the names of all health care personnel working in health care facilities in North Carolina who have: (1) Been subject to findings by the Department of: a. Neglect or abuse of a resident in…

(a) The Department may suspend, cancel, or amend a license when a facility subject to this Article has substantially failed to comply with this Article or rules adopted under this Article. (b) Administrative action taken by the Department under this section shall be in accordance…

(a) This Article shall be known and may be cited as the "Public Hospital Personnel Act". (b) The purpose of this Article is to protect the privacy of the personnel records of public hospital employees and to authorize public hospitals to determine employee compensation and person…

(a) A public hospital shall determine the pay, expense allowances, and other compensation of its officers and employees, and may establish position classification and pay plans and incentive compensation plans. (b) A public hospital may: (1) Adopt personnel policies and procedure…

(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of G.S. 132-6 or any other general law or local act concerning access to public records, personnel files of employees and applicants for employment maintained by a public hospital are subject to inspection and may be disclosed only as provided b…

(a) A hospital authority shall have the power to issue revenue bonds under the Local Government Revenue Bond Act, Chapter 159 of the General Statutes, Article 5, or the bond and revenue anticipation provisions of Chapter 159 of the General Statutes, Article 9, for the purpose of …

(a) Requirement; Nursing Home or Home Care Agency. - An offer of employment by a nursing home licensed under this Chapter to an applicant to fill a position that does not require the applicant to have an occupational license is conditioned on consent to a criminal history record …

The Department of Health and Human Services shall establish and maintain a provider file to record and monitor compliance histories of facilities, owners, operators, and affiliates of nursing homes and adult care homes. (1999-334, s. 3.8.)

(a) The Department of Health and Human Services shall charge a fee for the review of each health care facility construction project to ensure that project plans and construction are in compliance with State law. The fee shall be charged on a one-time, per-project basis as provide…

The Department of Health and Human Services shall charge each hospital or clinic certified by the Department as a facility suitable for the performance of abortions, as authorized under G.S. 90-21.81C, a nonrefundable annual certification fee in the amount of seven hundred dollar…

A hospital authority is authorized: (1) To borrow money and accept grants from the federal government for or to aid in the construction of a hospital facility; (2) To acquire any land acquired by the federal government for the construction of a hospital facility; and (3) To acqui…

(a) The Department shall establish and maintain a Medication Aide Registry containing the names of all health care personnel in North Carolina who have successfully completed a medication aide training program that has been approved by the North Carolina Board of Nursing, passed …

The following fees are initial licensure fees for new facilities and are applicable as follows: Number Initial Initial Facility Type of Beds License Fee Bed Fee Adult Care Licensure More than 6 $400.00 $19.00 6 or Fewer $350.00 $ - Acute and Home Care General Acute Hospitals 1-49…

It shall be unlawful for any provider of health care services to charge or accept payment for any health care procedure or component of any health care procedure that was not performed or supplied. If a procedure requires the informed consent of a patient, the charge for any comp…

Each hospital authority shall file with the mayor of the city or the chairman of the county board of commissioners at least annually an audit report by a certified public accountant of its activities for the preceding year, and shall make any recommendations necessary to carry ou…

The Division of Health Service Regulation, Department of Health and Human Services (Department), shall adopt rules governing the procedures regarding the request for and release of pathological materials made to clinical laboratories within the jurisdiction of the Department. The…

Each year the governing body of a city or county in which the hospital authority is located may appropriate and transfer funds to the authority. The appropriations shall be from the General Fund and may not exceed five percent (5%) of the General Fund. Money appropriated and paid…

(a) A city or county may lease, sell, convey, or otherwise transfer, with or without consideration or with nominal consideration, any property, whether real or personal or mixed, to a hospital authority whose territorial boundaries include at least part of the city or county. A h…

(a) An authority shall have the power and authority to purchase real or personal property under installment contracts, purchase money mortgages or deeds of trust, or other instruments, which create in the property purchased a security interest to secure payment of the purchase pr…