Title 23, Title 23 and Safety

(a) Any person seeking employment in a nursing facility, a home nursing-care provider, hospice provider, or a home-care provider who is, or is required to be, licensed, registered, or certified with the department of health if that employment involves routine contact with a patie…

If an applicant for employment has undergone a statewide criminal records check within eighteen (18) months of an application for employment, then an employer may request from the bureau of criminal identification or local police a letter indicating if any disqualifying informati…

The director of the department of health is authorized to promulgate rules and regulations to carry out the intent of this chapter as well as establishing administrative penalties for violations of the provisions of §§ 23-17-60 and 23-17-61.

(a) Information produced by a national criminal records check pertaining to conviction for the following crimes will result in a letter to the employee and employer disqualifying the applicant from employment: murder, voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, first-degree…

The director shall establish fees for licensure application, licensure renewal, inspection, and administrative actions under this chapter. Annual inspection fees for hospitals and rehabilitation hospital centers shall be assessed on a per facility basis, as well as an additional …

(a) There is imposed a hospital licensing fee described in subsections (c) through (f) for state fiscal years 2024 and 2025 against net patient-services revenue of every non-government owned hospital as defined herein for the hospital’s first fiscal year ending on or after Januar…

No employer who disqualifies an individual from employment or continued employment within thirty (30) days of receipt of a letter containing disqualifying information as defined in § 23-17-37 or of a criminal background report relating to the individual shall be liable for civil …

(a) No person acting severally or jointly with any other person shall establish, conduct, or maintain a healthcare facility in this state without a license under this chapter; provided, however, that any person, firm, corporation, or other entity that provides volunteer, register…

(a) On or before January 1, 2022, the department of health shall promulgate rules and regulations for the specific licensing and operation of school-based health centers in elementary and secondary schools. All school-based health centers as defined in § 23-17-2 shall be licensed…

(a) Definitions. As used in this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings: (1) “Adverse event” means injury to a patient resulting from a medical intervention, and not to the underlying condition of the patient. (2) “Checklist of care” means predetermined st…

A home nursing care provider and home care provider shall be considered for all purposes an employer; and those persons that it supplies on a temporary basis shall be considered employees and not independent contractors; and home nursing care providers and home care providers sha…

The director shall establish minimum level of uncompensated care on an annual basis to be provided by licensed home nursing care providers. These minimal levels shall be reasonable and shall be based upon historical levels of uncompensated care with the exclusion of bad debt. Fai…

Any new hospital or freestanding emergency-care facility licensee shall meet the statewide community standard for the provision of charity-care services as a condition of initial and continued licensure. That standard shall be consistent with guidelines established by the legisla…

(a) The licensing agency shall issue no new initial licenses for nursing facilities prior to July 1, 2022; provided, however, that any person holding a nursing facility license may undertake activities to construct and operate a replacement nursing facility with the same or lower…

The director is authorized to establish through regulation quality and volume related standards to be achieved and maintained for specific tertiary health care services offered by individual licensed health care facilities where peer reviewed medical and health literature establi…

(a)(1) Any health care facility licensed pursuant to this chapter which refers clients to another licensed health care facility or to a residential care/assisted living facility licensed pursuant to chapter 17.4 of this title or to a certified adult day care program in which the …

A health care facility shall require all persons, including students, who examine, observe, or treat a patient or resident of the facility to wear a photo identification badge which states, in a reasonably legible manner: (1) the first name, (2) licensure registration status, if …

Health care facilities shall provide the licensing agency with prompt notice of pending and actual labor disputes/actions which would impact delivery of patient care services including, but not limited to, strikes, walk-outs, and strike notices. Health care facilities shall provi…

(a) The director shall determine through regulation categories of patients that shall be permitted to receive surgical services in free standing ambulatory surgical facilities, podiatry ambulatory surgery centers and physician ambulatory surgery centers providing surgical treatme…

(a) As used in this section, the following definitions shall apply: (1) “Smoke-evacuation system” means smoke evacuators, laser plume evacuators, or local exhaust ventilators that capture and neutralize plume at the site of origin and before plume can make ocular contact or conta…

An application for a license shall be made to the licensing agency upon forms provided by it and shall contain any information that the licensing agency reasonably requires, which may include affirmative evidence of ability to comply with reasonable standards, rules, and regulati…

(a) The department shall adopt regulations regarding information to be provided by applicants for the initial licensure of or change of ownership of a nursing facility to include information relating to the background and qualifications of the applicant or proposed license holder…

(a) At least once every two (2) years, the department shall gather information from state departments and agencies relating to the experience and qualifications of the nursing facility applicant for relicensure. (b) Effective January 1, 2006, any nursing facility applying for ren…

(a) Accreditation from a national organization acceptable to the director may be required, at the discretion of the director, in lieu of an annual survey by the department. (b) The provisions of subsection (a) shall not limit in any way the prerogatives of the director to inspect…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of this section, a magnetic resonance imaging examination eligible for reimbursement under the provisions of any individual or group health insurance contract, plan or policy delivered in this state shall be reimbursed only if th…

Any hospital licensed pursuant to this chapter shall provide the department of health’s concern line number to all patients and staff through posted notices in conspicuous places throughout the hospital. The notices shall be written in English and in, at minimum, the three (3) mo…

(a) A hospital, by contract or otherwise, may not refuse or fail to grant or renew medical staff membership or staff privileges, or condition or otherwise limit or restrict medical staff membership or staff privileges, based in whole or in part on the fact that the physician or a…

(a) Every hospital and freestanding emergency-care facility shall, as a condition of initial or continued licensure, provide a qualified interpreter, if an appropriate bilingual clinician is not available to translate, in connection with all services provided to every non-English…

If any provision of this chapter or the application of it to any person or circumstances is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the chapter which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the p…

(a) In order to apply for and/or maintain a current license as a school based health center, a person must possess a current license as a health care facility pursuant to the provisions of this chapter. (b) School based health centers shall be exempt from the provisions of §§ 23-…

(a) Accreditation from a national organization acceptable to the director may be required, at the discretion of the director, in lieu of an annual survey by the department. (b) The provisions of subsection (a) shall not limit in any way the prerogatives of the director to inspect…

Hospitals and freestanding emergency-care facilities shall be required to complete the hospital-related information requirements of the pre-hospital exposure form for emergency service workers as required by § 23-4.1-19. Further, the hospitals and freestanding emergency-care faci…

(a) Definitions. As used in this chapter: (1) “Safe patient handling” means the use of engineering controls, transfer aids, or assistive devices whenever feasible and appropriate instead of manual lifting to perform the acts of lifting, transferring, and/or repositioning health c…

(a) Upon receipt of an application for a license, the licensing agency shall issue a license if the applicant and healthcare facility meet the requirements established under this chapter and any rules and regulations that may be established in accordance with the requirements est…

(a) Each hospital, licensed under this chapter, shall compile a list of its twenty-five (25) most commonly performed outpatient procedures and shall submit annually to the department of health a list of the range of average charges for each procedure, in a uniform reporting form …

Upon the request of any person without health coverage or with an insurance deductible of five thousand dollars ($5,000) or higher, a hospital shall, within five (5) calendar days, provide that person with a written estimate based upon the best medical information known at the ti…

(a) For the purposes of this section, a “long-term-care hospital” shall mean a facility as described in 42 U.S.C. § 1395ww(d)(1)(iv), that receives payment for inpatient services it provides to Medicare beneficiaries pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1395ww(m). (b) Any person seeking emplo…

(a) The following definitions apply in this section: (1) “Circulating nurse” means registered nurse licensed to practice in the state of Rhode Island who is educated and trained in perioperative nursing. (2) “Perioperative nursing” means specialized area of nursing practice that …

Between October 1 and March 1 of each year, each hospital shall offer, prior to discharge, immunizations against influenza virus to all inpatients sixty-five (65) years of age and older, unless contraindicated, and contingent upon the availability of the vaccine, in accordance wi…

(a) Any operator or operators of a nursing facility shall file with the department of health information of ownership including, but not limited to, the following: (1) The name, address, and a description of the interest held by each of the following persons: (i) Any person who, …

(a) For purposes of this section, the following words and terms shall have the following meanings: (1) “Sepsis” means a known or suspected infection with at least two (2) or more system inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) criteria as developed by American College of Chest Physi…

(a) All hospitals shall screen each uninsured patient, upon the uninsured patient’s agreement, at the earliest reasonable moment for potential eligibility for both: (1) Public health insurance programs; and (2) Any financial assistance offered by the hospital. (b) All screening a…

A license, unless sooner suspended or revoked, shall expire by limitation on the thirty-first (31st) day of December following its issuance and may be renewed from year to year. In the case of facilities that have not maintained federal certification, the license may be renewed a…

The licensing agency, after notice and opportunity for hearing to the applicant or licensee, is authorized to deny, suspend, or revoke a license, including the licensure of culture change beds approved pursuant to § 23-17-44, in any case in which it finds that there has been a fa…

Whenever the director determines that a health care facility licensed under this chapter is not being operated in conformance with all of the requirements established under this chapter, the director may, in lieu of suspension or revocation of the license of the facility, order t…

Any person who has exhausted all administrative remedies available to him or her within the licensing agency and who is aggrieved by a final decision of the licensing agency is entitled to judicial review in accordance with the provisions of §§ 42-35-15 and 42-35-16.