NRS450B.795. State Board of Health to collect data concerning waiting times for provision of emergency services to certain persons; hospitals and providers of emergency services in certain counties required to participate in collection of data; development of system of collecting data; advisory committees; quarterly report to Legislative Committee on Health Care; expenses; regulations; written request for repeal of section.

      1.  The State Board of Health shall collect data, in accordance with the system that is developed by the Board pursuant to subsection 5, concerning the waiting times for the provision of emergency services and care to each person who is in need of such services and care and who is transported to a hospital by a provider of emergency medical services.

      2.  Each hospital and each provider of emergency medical services in a county whose population is 700,000 or more shall participate in the collection of data pursuant to this section by collecting data, in accordance with the system that is developed by the State Board of Health pursuant to subsection 5, concerning the waiting times for the provision of emergency services and care to each person who is in need of such services and care and who is transported to a hospital by a provider of emergency medical services.

      3.  Except as otherwise provided in subsection 4, the hospitals and the providers of emergency medical services in a county whose population is less than 700,000 are not required to participate in the collection of data pursuant to this section unless the county health officer, each hospital and each provider of emergency medical services in the county agree in writing that the county will participate in the collection of data. The county health officer shall submit the written agreement to the State Board of Health.

      4.  If the State Board of Health determines, in a county whose population is 100,000 or more but less than 700,000, that there are excessive waiting times at one or more hospitals in the county for the provision of emergency services and care to persons who are in need of such services and care and who have been transported to the hospital by a provider of emergency medical services, the State Board of Health may require the county to implement a system of collecting data pursuant to subsection 5 concerning the extent of waiting times and the circumstances surrounding such waiting times.

      5.  For the purpose of collecting data pursuant to this section, the State Board of Health shall develop a system of collecting data concerning the waiting times of persons for the provision of emergency services and care at a hospital and the surrounding circumstances for such waiting times each time a person is transported to a hospital by a provider of emergency medical services. The system must include, without limitation, an electronic method of recording and collecting the following information:

      (a) The time at which a person arrives at the hospital, which is the time that the person is presented to the emergency room of the hospital;

      (b) The time at which the person is transferred to an appropriate place in the hospital to receive emergency services and care, which is the time that the person is physically present in the appropriate place and the staff of the emergency room of the hospital have received a report concerning the transfer of the person;

      (c) If a person is not transferred to an appropriate place in the hospital to receive emergency services and care within 30 minutes after arriving at the hospital, information detailing the reason for such delay, which may be selected from a predetermined list of possible reasons that are available for selection in the electronic system;

      (d) A unique identifier that is assigned to each transfer of a person to a hospital by a provider of emergency medical services which allows the transfer to be identified and reviewed; and

      (e) The names of the personnel of the provider of emergency medical services who transported the person to the hospital and of the personnel of the hospital who are responsible for the care of the person after the person arrives at the hospital.

      6.  The State Board of Health shall ensure that:

      (a) The data collected pursuant to subsection 5 is reported to the Division on a quarterly basis;

      (b) The data collected pursuant to subsection 5 is available to any person or entity participating in the collection of data pursuant to this section; and

      (c) The system of collecting data developed pursuant to subsection 5 and all other aspects of the collection comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, Public Law 104-191.

      7.  The State Board of Health shall appoint for each county in which hospitals and providers of emergency medical services are participating in the collection of data pursuant to this section an advisory committee consisting of the health officer of the county, a representative of each hospital in the county and a representative of each provider of emergency medical services in the county. Each member of the advisory committee serves without compensation and is not entitled to receive a per diem allowance or travel expenses for the member’s service on the advisory committee. Each advisory committee shall:

      (a) Meet not less than once each calendar quarter;

      (b) Review the data that is collected for the county and submitted to the State Board of Health concerning the waiting times for the provision of emergency services and care, the manner in which such data was collected and any circumstances surrounding such waiting times;

      (c) Review each incident in which a person was transferred to an appropriate place in a hospital to receive emergency services and care more than 30 minutes after arriving at the hospital; and

      (d) Submit a report of its findings to the State Board of Health.

      8.  The State Board of Health may delegate its duties set forth in this section to:

      (a) The district board of health in a county whose population is 700,000 or more.

      (b) The county or district board of health in a county whose population is less than 700,000.

      9.  The State Board of Health or any county or district board of health that is performing the duties of the State Board of Health pursuant to subsection 8 shall submit a quarterly report to the Legislative Committee on Health Care, which must include a written compilation of the data collected pursuant to this section.

      10.  The State Board of Health may require each hospital and provider of emergency medical services located in a county that participates in the collection of data pursuant to this section to share in the expense of purchasing hardware, software, equipment and other resources necessary to carry out the collection of data pursuant to this section.

      11.  The State Board of Health shall adopt regulations to carry out the provisions of this section, including, without limitation, regulations prescribing the duties and responsibilities of each:

      (a) County or district board of health that is performing the duties of the State Board of Health pursuant to subsection 8;

      (b) Hospital located in a county that participates in the collection of data pursuant to this section; and

      (c) Provider of emergency medical services located in a county whose population is less than 700,000 that participates in the collection of data pursuant to this section.

      12.  The district board of health in each county whose population is 700,000 or more shall adopt regulations consistent with subsection 11 for providers of emergency medical services located in the county to carry out the provisions of this section.

      13.  The State Board of Health may, in consultation with each hospital and provider of emergency medical services located in a county that participates in the collection of data pursuant to this section, submit a written request to the Director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau for transmission to a regular session of the Legislature for the repeal of this section. Such a written request must include the justifications and reasons for requesting the termination of the collection of data pursuant to this section.

      14.  As used in this section:

      (a) “Emergency services and care” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 439B.410.

      (b) “Hospital” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 449.012.

      (c) “Provider of emergency medical services” means each operator of an ambulance and each fire-fighting agency which has a permit to operate pursuant to this chapter and which provides transportation for persons in need of emergency services and care to hospitals.

      (Added to NRS by 2007, 2369; A 2011, 1275)