Hospital-affiliated outpatient settings.

Existing law requires the Medical Board of California to adopt standards for accreditation of outpatient settings, as defined, and, in approving accreditation agencies to perform this accreditation, to ensure that the certification program shall, at a minimum, include standards for specified aspects of the settings' operations. Existing law makes a willful violation of these and other provisions relating to outpatient settings a crime. This bill would create entities known as hospital-affiliated outpatient settings, as defined, and would align the accreditation and reporting processes with those of the general acute care hospital with which the hospital-affiliated outpatient settings is affiliated. By expanding the definition of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.