30:4-177.61 Standardized admission protocols, medical clearance criteria for transfer of patients to psychiatric facilities.

1. a. The Commissioner of Human Services, in consultation with the Commissioner of Health and Senior Services, the State Board of Medical Examiners, the New Jersey Hospital Association, the Hospital Alliance of New Jersey, the New Jersey Council of Teaching Hospitals, the New Jersey Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians, and the New Jersey Psychiatric Association, and such other groups as deemed appropriate by the commissioner, shall develop standardized admission protocols and medical clearance criteria for transfer or admission of a hospital emergency department patient to a State or county psychiatric hospital or a short-term care facility.

The standardized admission protocols shall include, but not be limited to, the following elements:

(1) routine laboratory and diagnostic tests, based on nationally recognized standards of care, for patients whose clinical presentation warrant such testing. If there is a clinical disagreement about the testing between the examining physician at the emergency department and the assigned physician at the psychiatric hospital or facility, the physicians shall engage in direct physician-to-physician communication to resolve the disagreement;

(2) a medical clearance checklist form for transfer or admission to a State or county psychiatric hospital or a short-term care facility, including contraindications for admission to a State or county psychiatric hospital or short-term care facility;

(3) guidelines for emergency medical services personnel when there is a delay in accepting patients at the receiving State or county psychiatric hospital or short-term care facility once patient transport has begun;

(4) each separate governing body for a hospital emergency department shall be responsible for reviewing the relevant internal medical clearance protocols consistent with the general parameters set forth in this act as well as provisions in the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, section 9121 of Pub.L.99-272 (42 U.S.C. s. 1395dd), to ensure that there is no conflict with the medical clearance procedures or transfer of a patient;

(5) procedures for requesting a transfer of a patient to a State or county psychiatric hospital or short-term care facility by emergency department personnel and procedures for accepting a transfer of a patient by a State or county psychiatric hospital or short-term care facility;

(6) procedures to contact the designated State or county psychiatric hospital or short-term care facility physician who is responsible for coordinating medical clearance of a patient, on a 24-hours per day, seven-days-a-week basis; and

(7) a mechanism for training emergency department hospital staff, screening center staff, State and county psychiatric hospital staff, short-term care facility staff, and emergency medical services staff in the standardized admission protocols established pursuant to this section.

b. The Commissioner of Human Services shall collect data from the hospital emergency departments and State and county psychiatric hospitals and short-term care facilities regarding the protocols established pursuant to this section and evaluate the effectiveness of the protocols on patient care one year after their implementation.

L.2009, c.242, s.1.