Title: Senate Bill 1152: California’s Hospital Discharge Policy for Homeless Patients and How It May Affect Substance Use Disorder Treatment Providers | Polsinelli - JDSupra
Headings: Senate Bill 1152: California’s Hospital Discharge Policy for Homeless Patients and How It May Affect Substance Use Disorder Treatment Providers
Senate Bill 1152: California’s Hospital Discharge Policy for Homeless Patients and How It May Affect Substance Use Disorder Treatment Providers
What are the Material Changes to the Current Law?
Who is Affected by the New Law
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Content: Senate Bill 1152: California’s Hospital Discharge Policy for Homeless Patients and How It May Affect Substance Use Disorder Treatment Providers | Polsinelli - JDSupra
November 1, 2018
Senate Bill 1152: California’s Hospital Discharge Policy for Homeless Patients and How It May Affect Substance Use Disorder Treatment Providers
Jonathon Cohn, Paul Gomez, Erin Muellenberg, Ima Nsien, Richard Rifenbark
Polsinelli
What are the Material Changes to the Current Law? Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill (SB) 1152 into law on September 30, 2018. SB 1152 modifies Section 1262.5 of the Health & Safety Code which currently requires hospitals to have a written discharge planning policy and procedure that provides for appropriate post-hospital care for patients after discharge. Existing law focuses on those patients who are likely to suffer adverse health consequences after being discharged from the hospital if there is no adequate discharge planning. The new law goes further by focusing specifically on homeless patients. Effective January 1, 2019, SB 1152 will require hospitals to modify their current hospital discharge policies by including a written homeless patient discharge planning policy and procedure. Hospitals must revise current discharge policies to assist homeless patients in preparing for their return to the community by helping them identify a post-discharge destination, with priority given to identifying a sheltered destination with supportive services. Prior to discharging a homeless patient, hospitals are required to document and perform a checklist of events, such as offering the homeless patient a meal, screening for infectious disease, weather-appropriate clothing and transportation to a certain destination within a 30 mile radius.