98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2013 and 2014
HB2628

 

Introduced 2/21/2013, by Rep. Silvana Tabares

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
210 ILCS 45/3-202.6 new

    Amends the Nursing Home Care Act. Requires a nursing home to place electronic monitoring devices throughout the facility in areas including specified common areas and residents' rooms. Allows residents to opt out of electronic monitoring in their rooms. Sets forth requirements concerning recordings. Provides that intentionally hampering, obstructing, tampering with, or destroying an electronic monitoring device installed in a facility is a Class A misdemeanor for which a $5,000 fine may be imposed. Provides for access to real-time and recorded files. Allows for the admission of recordings into evidence. Contains provisions concerning civil liability; reimbursement of facilities for expenses incurred in installing electronic monitoring systems; the authority of the Department of Public Health to deny, suspend, or refuse to renew a facility's license; the adoption of rules by the Department; and other matters. Effective immediately.


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CORRECTIONAL BUDGET AND IMPACT NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning regulation.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Nursing Home Care Act is amended by adding
5Section 3-202.6 as follows:
 
6    (210 ILCS 45/3-202.6 new)
7    Sec. 3-202.6. Electronic monitoring in facilities.
8    (a) Definitions. In this Section:
9    "Authorized electronic monitoring" means the placement of
10electronic monitoring devices in the common areas and rooms of
11residents of a facility and recordings with the devices
12pursuant to this Section.
13    "Electronic monitoring device" means a video surveillance
14camera installed in any of a facility's common areas and
15residents' rooms and an audio device installed in a resident's
16bathroom and shower or bathing areas, designed to acquire
17communication or other sounds occurring in the rooms.
18    (b) Placement of electronic monitoring devices. A facility
19shall place electronic monitoring devices throughout the
20facility in areas that include, but need not be limited to:
21        (1) Entrances and exits.
22        (2) Hallways.
23        (3) Dining areas.

 

 

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1        (4) Nurses' stations.
2        (5) Residents' rooms.
3    (c) Opting out of electronic monitoring; waiver. A resident
4or a resident's legal representative shall have the choice to
5opt out of electronic monitoring in the resident's room by
6executing a waiver in the manner and form prescribed by the
7Department. If a resident or a resident's legal representative
8opts out by executing a waiver, electronic monitoring in that
9resident's room shall be turned off. If a resident or a
10resident's legal representative chooses to opt out of
11electronic monitoring, execution of the waiver must be
12witnessed and signed by a representative of the Office of State
13Long Term Care Ombudsman.
14    (d) Temporary waiver. A resident who has electronic
15monitoring in his or her room and who desires privacy for
16purposes of intimacy has the right to request a temporary
17waiver from monitoring during such personal periods as follows:
18        (1) A temporary waiver must be executed by the resident
19    if he or she is of sound mind or does not have a diagnosis
20    of Alzheimer's disease or dementia or has not been deemed
21    incompetent.
22        (2) If the resident is not of sound mind, has a
23    diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease or dementia, or has been
24    deemed to be incompetent, the resident's legal
25    representative may request the temporary waiver.
26    A temporary waiver under this subsection shall be executed

 

 

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1in the manner and form prescribed by the Department.
2    (e) Notice to resident. Upon a resident's admission to a
3facility, the resident shall be given a form prescribed by the
4Department which provides notice that the facility is required
5by State law to place electronic monitoring devices throughout
6the facility. The form shall provide language to allow the
7resident or the resident's legal representative to opt out of
8electronic monitoring in the resident's room, if the resident
9or the resident's legal representative chooses privacy over
10increased safety provided by electronic monitoring. The form
11shall also release the facility from any civil liability for a
12violation of the resident's privacy rights in connection with
13the use of the electronic monitoring device. The form must be
14signed by the resident or the resident's legal representative.
15The signed form shall be attached as a permanent record in the
16resident's file. A facility must provide a room to any resident
17who opts out of electronic monitoring. Under no circumstances
18shall a resident be provided a room without video monitoring
19unless that resident or his or her legal representative opts
20out of electronic monitoring.
21    (f) Constant monitoring. Electronic monitoring in
22residents' rooms, bathrooms, and bathing areas shall be
23constant.
24    (g) Recording requirements. Recordings shall be
25motion-activated and activated whenever the nurse-call or
26call-for-assistance button is pressed for video recordings in a

 

 

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1resident's room and sound-activated for bathrooms and bathing
2areas. Recordings shall capture a minimum of 30 seconds prior
3to the activation and shall continue until no motion is
4detected for 3 minutes. Recordings shall be maintained at the
5facility for a minimum of 30 days. All recordings shall be
6transferred to the Department, which shall store recordings for
7a minimum of 5 years. Electronic monitoring systems for video
8monitoring shall be color, motion-activated, with a minimum of
915 seconds per frame, minimum 550 resolution, with infrared
10illuminator or greater for night or low-lighting monitoring.
11All video tapes or recordings made pursuant to this Section
12shall show the time and date that events acquired on the tape
13or recording occurred.
14    (h) Posted notices. A facility shall post and maintain a
15conspicuous notice at the entrance to the facility stating that
16the facility is being monitored by electronic monitoring
17devices.
18    A facility that conducts authorized electronic monitoring
19in a resident's room pursuant to this Section shall post and
20maintain a conspicuous notice at the entrance to the resident's
21room stating that the room is being monitored by one or more
22electronic monitoring devices.
23    (i) Residents' consent. Authorized electronic monitoring
24of a resident's room conducted under this Section is not
25compulsory and shall be conducted only with the consent of all
26residents living in that room or their legal representatives. A

 

 

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1facility shall not refuse to admit an individual as a resident
2of the facility and shall not remove a resident from the
3facility because of the individual's or his or her
4representative's consent or refusal to consent to authorized
5electronic monitoring of the resident's room.
6    (j) Criminal offenses. No person or entity shall
7intentionally hamper, obstruct, tamper with, or destroy an
8electronic monitoring device installed in a facility.
9    Any person or entity that intentionally hampers,
10obstructs, tampers with, or destroys a recording or an
11electronic monitoring device installed in a facility commits a
12Class A misdemeanor for which a fine not exceeding $5,000 may
13be imposed.
14    No person or entity shall intercept a communication or
15disclosure or use an intercepted communication of an electronic
16monitoring device placed or installed in a facility without the
17express consent of the facility or, for an electronic
18monitoring device installed in a resident's room, the express
19consent of the resident or the resident's legal representative.
20    (k) Availability of recordings. A facility shall make
21available to any resident or resident's legal representative
22real-time and recorded files. The facility shall provide the
23resident or resident's legal representative with a secured
24Internet address, login, and password specifically for that
25resident to view real-time and recorded activity. The facility
26shall provide a computer station at the facility for residents

 

 

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1and their legal representatives to access real-time or recorded
2files. Recordings may be provided by the facility upon request
3made by a resident or a resident's legal representative. The
4facility shall provide the recordings within 48 hours after a
5request is made. A resident or his or her legal representative
6may provide the facility with a DVD or flash drive for the
7transfer of such recorded files; otherwise the facility may
8charge a fee of no more than $25 to recover the cost of storage
9media for such file transfers.
10    A facility shall make access to real-time video, tapes, or
11other recordings permitted by this Section available to the
12Department. The Department shall adopt rules as necessary to
13ensure that the provisions of this subsection (k) do not
14violate the privacy rights of a facility's residents protected
15by State or federal law.
16    Residents, residents' legal representatives, authorized
17facility staff, and authorized Department staff shall have
18real-time access and access to recorded files.
19    Law enforcement agencies, State's Attorneys, and attorneys
20representing residents or residents' legal representatives
21shall have access to recorded files.
22    (l) Use of recordings as evidence. Subject to the
23provisions of law, a tape or recording created through the use
24of authorized electronic monitoring pursuant to this Section
25may be admitted into evidence in a civil or criminal court
26action or administrative proceeding. A court or administrative

 

 

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1agency may not admit into evidence a tape or recording created
2through the use of authorized electronic monitoring, or take or
3authorize action based on the tape or recording, unless all of
4the following criteria are met:
5        (1) If the tape or recording is a video tape or
6    recording, the tape or recording must show the time and
7    date that the events acquired on the tape or recording
8    occurred.
9        (2) The contents of the tape or recording must not have
10    been edited or artificially enhanced.
11        (3) If the contents of the tape or recording have been
12    transferred from the original format to another
13    technological format, the transfer must have been done by a
14    qualified professional, and the contents of the tape or
15    recording must not have been altered.
16    (m) Civil liability. This Section does not affect whether a
17person may be held civilly liable under other provisions of law
18in connection with placing an electronic monitoring device in
19the room of a resident of a facility or in connection with
20using or disclosing a tape or recording made by such a device,
21except:
22        (1) as specifically provided in this Section; or
23        (2) to the extent that liability is affected by a
24    consent form or waiver signed pursuant to the provisions of
25    this Section or the fact that authorized electronic
26    monitoring is required to be conducted with notice to

 

 

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1    persons who enter the facility or a resident's room.
2    The Department shall not be held civilly liable in
3connection with the placement or use of an electronic
4monitoring device in a facility.
5    (n) Placement of monitoring device at resident's expense.
6Nothing in this Section shall be construed to prevent a
7resident or resident's legal representative from placing an
8electronic monitoring device in the resident's room at the
9expense of the resident or his or her legal representative and
10with the consent of all other residents living in the room or
11their legal representatives.
12    (o) Reimbursement of facility. A facility shall be
13reimbursed for expenses incurred in the acquisition and
14installation of electronic monitoring systems pursuant to this
15Section.
16    (p) Sanctions against facility's licensure. The Department
17may deny, suspend, or refuse to renew the license of a facility
18that violates this Section.
19    (q) Rules. The Department shall adopt rules as necessary to
20implement this Section.
 
21    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
22becoming law.