As used in the Employee Abuse Registry Act:

A. "abuse" means:

(1) knowingly, intentionally or negligently and without justifiable cause inflicting physical pain, injury or mental anguish; or

(2) the intentional deprivation by a caretaker or other person of services necessary to maintain the mental and physical health of a person;

B. "department" means the department of health;

C. "direct care" means face-to-face services provided or routine and unsupervised physical or financial access to a recipient of services;

D. "employee" means a person employed by or on contract with a provider, either directly or through a third party arrangement to provide direct care. "Employee" does not include a New Mexico licensed health care professional practicing within the scope of the profession's license or a certified nurse aide;

E. "exploitation" means an unjust or improper use of a person's money or property for another person's profit or advantage, pecuniary or otherwise;

F. "neglect" means, subject to a person's right to refuse treatment and subject to a provider's right to exercise sound medical discretion, the failure of an employee to provide basic needs such as clothing, food, shelter, supervision and care for the physical and mental health of a person or failure by a person that may cause physical or psychological harm;

G. "provider" means an intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded; a rehabilitation facility; a home health agency; a homemaker agency; a home for the aged or disabled; a group home; an adult foster care home; a case management entity that provides services to elderly people or people with developmental disabilities; a corporate guardian; a private residence that provides personal care, adult residential care or natural and surrogate family services provided to persons with developmental disabilities; an adult daycare center; a boarding home; an adult residential care home; a residential service or habilitation service authorized to be reimbursed by medicaid; any licensed or medicaid-certified entity or any program funded by the aging and long-term services department that provides respite, companion or personal care services; programs funded by the children, youth and families department that provide homemaker or adult daycare services; and any other individual, agency or organization that provides respite care or delivers home- and community-based services to adults or children with developmental disabilities or physical disabilities or to the elderly, but excluding a managed care organization unless the employees of the managed care organization provide respite care, deliver home- and community-based services to adults or children with developmental disabilities or physical disabilities or to the elderly;

H. "registry" means an electronic database that provides information on substantiated employee abuse, neglect or exploitation; and

I. "secretary" means the secretary of health.

History: Laws 2005, ch. 256, § 2.

Cross reference. — For the department of health, see Sections 9-7-1 through 9-7-17 NMSA 1978.

For the secretary of health, see Section 9-7-5 NMSA 1978.

Effective dates. — Laws 2005, ch. 256 contained no effective date provision, but, pursuant to N.M. Const., art. IV, § 23, was effective June 17, 2005, 90 days after adjournment of the legislature.