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(a) Hospitals shall disclose to the Department of Public Health the following information in the form of reports to be filed annually with the Department within 120 days after the end of each hospital's fiscal year.
1. The dollar amount of charity care provided during the prior year as specified by the Department, after adjustment by the Cost-to-Charge ratio. Each hospital shall file a calculation of its Ratio of Costs-to-Charges with its report. Figures representing bad debt shall not be included in the amount reported.
2. The total number of applications, patient and third party requests for charity care, and the total number of hospital acceptances and denials for charity care received and decided during the prior year; the zip code of each patient's residence on each such acceptance and denial, and the number of individuals seeking, applying, or otherwise eligible for charity care who were referred to other medical facilities along with the identification of the facility to which the individuals were referred.
3. The total number of patients who received hospital services within the prior year reported as being charity care and whether those services were for emergency, inpatient or outpatient medical care, or for ancillary services.
4. All charity care policies, including but not limited to explanations regarding the availability of charity care and the time periods and procedures for eligibility, application, determination, and appeal; any application or eligibility forms used, and the hospital locations and hours at which the information may be obtained by the general public.
5. Such other information as the Department shall require.
(Added by Ord. 163-01, File No. 010142, App. 7/20/2001)
(a) During the admission process whenever practicable, hospitals shall provide patients with verbal notification as to the hospital's policies describing the availability of charity care and any process necessary to apply for charity care.
(b) Hospitals shall post multilingual notices as to any policies on charity care in several prominent locations within the hospital, including but not limited to the emergency department, billing office, waiting rooms for purposes of admissions, the outpatient area, and the inpatient area. Said notices shall be published in at least the following languages-English, Spanish, and Chinese; and shall be clearly visible to the public from the location where they are posted.
(Added by Ord. 163-01, File No. 010142, App. 7/20/2001)
The Director may issue and amend rules, regulations, standards, or conditions to implement this ordinance. The Director is authorized to implement the provisions of this ordinance, including any rules, regulations, standards, or conditions issued hereunder.
(Added by Ord. 163-01, File No. 010142, App. 7/20/2001)
Any hospital which fails to comply with the reporting or notification requirements specified in this ordinance or in the rules and regulations of the Department may be liable for a civil penalty, in an amount not to exceed $500 for each day the violation continues. The penalty shall be assessed and recovered in a civil action brought on behalf of the City and County of San Francisco. Any monies recovered pursuant to this section shall be deposited in the Treasury of the City and County of San Francisco and appropriated for use by the Department of Public Health.
(Added by Ord. 163-01, File No. 010142, App. 7/20/2001)
In undertaking the adoption and enforcement of this ordinance, the City and County is assuming an undertaking only to promote the general welfare. It is not assuming, nor is it imposing on its officers and employees, an obligation for breach of which it is liable in money damages to any person who claims that such breach proximately caused injury.
(Added by Ord. 163-01, File No. 010142, App. 7/20/2001)
If any part or provision of this ordinance, or the application thereof to any person or circumstances, is held invalid, the remainder of the ordinance, including the application of such part or provision to the other persons, or circumstances, shall not be affected thereby and shall continue in full force and effect. To this end, provisions of this ordinance are severable.
(Added by Ord. 163-01, File No. 010142, App. 7/20/2001)
The Department shall make a report on an annual basis to the Health Commission on the information obtained from the hospitals for use including but not limited to future planning on the Department's provision of care to the community.
(Added by Ord. 163-01, File No. 010142, App. 7/20/2001)
(a) The Board of Supervisors encourages the San Francisco Department of Pubic Health to modify the San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center's policies and procedures to require that providers obtain written informed consent from and provide pre-test counseling to patients consistent with State and Federal law, before administering an HIV antibody test to such patients.
(b) Written informed patient consent may consist of documentation by the provider in the patient's medical record if such consent satisfies State and Federal law.
(Added by Ord. 144-06, File No. 060702, App. 6/22/2006)
San Francisco has a shortage of subacute skilled nursing care beds in the City, which often necessitates transferring patients from general acute care hospitals in the City to subacute skilled nursing care facilities outside of the City. Some City residents who receive subacute skilled nursing care at facilities outside of the City, and their families, face hardships associated with traveling to, and receiving care at, these facilities. As the City strives to increase the number of subacute skilled nursing care beds in San Francisco, it is necessary to understand the full scope of the need for both subacute and general skilled nursing care beds based on the number of patients who qualify for either subacute or general skilled nursing care in an acute care hospital or hospital-based skilled nursing facility and are either transferred outside of the City or remain in the City in an acute care hospital or hospital-based skilled nursing facility. Accordingly, Section 140.2 requires public and private general acute care hospitals and hospital-based skilled nursing facilities in the City to report the number of and aggregated demographic information regarding qualified subacute and general skilled nursing care patients to the Department of Public Health.
(Added by Ord. 77-22, File No. 220410, App. 5/13/2022, Eff. 6/13/2022)
“City” means the City and County of San Francisco.
“Department” means the Department of Public Health.
“Director” means the Director of Health or the Director’s designee.
“Out-of-County Health Facility” means a health facility located outside of the City, whether public or private, licensed as a general acute care hospital or skilled nursing facility, as those two terms are defined by Section 1250 of the California Health and Safety Code, as amended from time to time, and providing Skilled Nursing Care.
“Reporting Health Facility” means every health facility in the City, whether public or private, licensed as a general acute care hospital or hospital-based skilled nursing facility, as those two terms are defined by Section 1250 of the California Health and Safety Code, as amended from time to time.
“Skilled Nursing Care” means general skilled nursing care including but not limited to adult subacute care as defined by Section 14132.25 of the California Welfare and Institutions Code, as amended from time to time, which is a level of care designed for patients who have an acute illness, injury, or exacerbation of a disease process, and pediatric subacute care, which is a level of care for patients under 21 years of age who use a medical technology that compensates for the loss of a vital bodily function.
(Added by Ord. 77-22, File No. 220410, App. 5/13/2022, Eff. 6/13/2022)
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